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La.’s push for wind power off Gulf Coast stalls

German firm sees ‘no path forward’ after settlement BY MIKE SMITH Staff writer

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

A new Louisiana law requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. A conservative group donated posters like the one pictured to every school system.

Students return to class with Ten Commandments displayed

The prospect of wind power off Louisiana’s Gulf Coast, once touted as a boon for local companies and a way to reduce climate-warming emissions, appears dead in the water — at least for now. The recent announcement that German firm RWE had reached a $1.22 billion settlement with President Donald Trump’s administration to relinquish its offshore wind leases, including off Louisiana’s southwestern coast, has laid bare a stark reality facing the industry. Offshore wind in the Gulf — and nationwide — is up against enormous odds under Trump, industry analysts say. The president has loudly

ä See WIND, page 9A

Most schools have complied; some teachers say they’re resisting BY PATRICK WALL, ELYSE CARMOSINO and MARIE FAZIO Staff writers

Swept up in the back-to-school bustle, Sadeel Abed didn’t notice the glossy new posters until a student in her art class pointed one out. It featured a photo of a monument bearing the Ten Commandments in Gothic script. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court cleared a Louisiana law requiring public schools and colleges to post the Biblical text in every classroom. When Abed and her peers returned from summer break to their Jefferson Parish high school last

week, they found the Ten Commandments on display alongside the usual whiteboards, world maps and American ﬂags. “Some kids have noticed, and they’re not happy about it,” said Abed, a senior at West Jefferson High School. That’s one classroom, in one district. In others, district leaders say things have passed without much interest at all. In Bossier Parish, Superintendent Jason Rowland said the rollout was smooth. “It’s just not an issue,” he said, “and we’re not going to make one out of it.” The posters have been a long time coming. The Republican-controlled state Legis-

lature passed the Ten Commandments law in 2024, but it was paused after a group of public-school parents sued, arguing that the displays violated their children’s religious freedom. A federal judge declared the law unconstitutional, but in February the conservative 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling. The appeals court said the legal challenge was premature because it came before the law was enacted, leaving the door open for future lawsuits by parents and civil liberties groups now that the displays are going up.

ä See DISPLAY, page 4A

FILE PHOTO

Louisiana companies were instrumental in the development of the Block Island Wind Farm, the United States’ first commercial offshore wind farm located in state waters of Rhode Island.

Amtrak’s Mardi Gras line marks year of promise, peril

The rising sense of both hope and to many cities where Amtrak Ridership numbers are high, but train faces questions over safety ment peril is creating a test for Amtrak now stops.

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ

celebrating a year of extraordiStaff writer nary success and promise, even as its leaders confront growing quesThe Amtrak route that carries tions of safety at rail crossings hundreds of passengers a day be- along the Gulf Coast. The route, called the Mardi Gras tween New Orleans and Mobile is

WEATHER HIGH 97 LOW 79 PAGE 8B

Service, looks like a win. Since trains began running last August, the line has more than doubled its ridership projections, boosted regional tourism and helped bring new signs of economic develop-

But the triumphs have been complicated by five deadly crashes, which have killed seven people. All died crossing the tracks in cars, maneuvering around lowered gates at crossings or walking along the rails as a train closed in.

Business ......................1E Deaths .........................3B Nation-World................2A Classified ..................... 1F Living............................1D Opinion ........................6B Commentary ................7B Metro ...........................1B Sports ..........................1C

and its partners around the region, who say they are striving to prevent collisions and lure more passengers than ever. “It’s been an exceptional first

ä See AMTRAK, page 6A

14TH yEAR, NO. 4

2A ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

BRIEFS

FROM WIRE REPORTS

Teen boy among victims in Michigan shootings

A teenage boy and four adults were killed Friday in shootings that prompted a wide search for the ﬂeeing gunman, whose body was ultimately found in a wooded area alongside one of his victims, authorities said. A teenage girl survived and was in stable condition, police said. Chad Hickman, 39, was found dead after a wide search in Missaukee County, police said. Police released the ages and genders of the victims on Saturday but did not specify whether they were related to each other or the suspect. Officers responded Friday morning to reports of a shooting at a home about 170 miles northwest of Detroit, where they found the bodies of a 16-year-old boy, a 45-year-old man and 40-year-old woman, and a 13-year-old girl in critical condition, Michigan State Police said. Authorities say Hickman ﬂed that scene, leading to a largescale search. Police found the body of a 53-year-old man at a second home, and then a 29-yearold woman, dead alongside Hickman, in the woods. All the victims died of gunshot wounds, police said. “This situation is heartbreaking for the community and challenging for the investigators involved,” Lt. Ashley Miller said in a Friday statement. Miller said Saturday the investigation is ongoing. Hickman was convicted in 2024 of misdemeanor fourthdegree child abuse, according to court records. He was sentenced to one year in jail. In the same case, the court dismissed felony assault and criminal sexual conduct charges.

Death toll rises to 72 in Zimbabwe ferry disaster

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Eighteen children were among more than 70 people killed when an overloaded ferry capsized on Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe this week, police said Saturday after rescuers recovered more bodies. The ferry capsized in strong waves on Tuesday. Police said that 26 more bodies had been recovered since then, bringing the death toll to 72. The aging ferry was traveling from the town of Kariba to rural and ﬁshing communities in the country’s northwest, where roads are damaged and public transportation is scarce. Authorities have not said how many people were aboard or how many remain missing. Estimates have put the number of passengers as high as 153, while authorities say the ferry’s capacity is 90. Zimbabwe’s disaster management agency has said 77 people were rescued. Authorities initially said the number of children aboard was unknown because those below ticketing age were not included in passenger estimates. A police list released later showed that 16 of the child victims were aged 10 or younger, with the youngest just 1.

Giant Virgin Mary statue inaugurated in Poland

KONOTOPIE, Poland — An enormous statue of the Virgin Mary that is believed to be Europe’s tallest was inaugurated on Saturday in a small Polish village, in the presence of legendary anti-communist leader Lech Walesa. Hundreds of people took part in the consecration of the monument, which towers 182 feet over Konotopie in central Poland, the home of fewer than 150 people. While helicopters scattered miniature red roses over the crowd, priests in white robes celebrated Mass and the popular Mazowsze folk ensemble sang and danced to traditional Polish music. The Polish statue is taller — if less dramatically located — than the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which measures some 125 feet including its pedestal. Its height includes a crown-shaped 49-foot pedestal. It also surpasses another recent large-scale religious monument in Poland, the Christ the King statue in the western town of Swiebodzin, which was unveiled in 2010 and — complete with the mound it stands on — rises some 170 feet above the ground.

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Earthquake strikes off Indonesia Authorities say at least 47 killed

BY YACOB HERIN Associated Press

MAUMERE, Indonesia — A powerful magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 47 people, collapsing buildings and causing panic in a region prone to deadly quakes. Authorities said dozens more residents were injured and warned that the death toll would almost certainly rise. Authorities issued a tsunami warning and urged coastal residents to move to higher ground, but later lifted the warning when Indonesia’s meteorological agency said monitoring showed no signiﬁcant sealevel changes that posed a threat to coastal communities. Some smaller tsunamis were reported. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake hit eastern Indonesia’s Flores region at a depth of 6 miles at 5:58 a.m. local time. Its epicenter was 42 miles north-northwest of the city of Ende in East Nusa Tenggara province. The meteorological agency said the quake was followed by at least 235 aftershocks, with the largest recorded at magnitude 6.2. The agency’s sea-level monitoring stations ac-

PHOTO PROVIDED By INDONESIAN NATIONAL SEARCH AND RESCUE AGENCy

Rescuers attempt to clear debris Saturday at a building damaged by an earthquake in Maumere, East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. knowledged some small tsunamis reached coastal villages in Manggarai and East Manggarai regencies. Videos obtained by The Associated Press showed the coastal village of Riung in Ngada regency blanketed in mud and debris after what the agency described as a 5.3 feet tsunami. Fishing boats were stranded ashore, infrastructure damaged, and homes surrounded by sediment left by receding waters. Waves measuring 3.1 feet were observed in Maurole, Ende Regency. Tsunami waves exceed-

ing 1.6 feet were detected in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi, and Sape in Bima Regency. A strong, land-based earthquake of 6.9 magnitude hit North Sumatra province in western Indonesia on Saturday afternoon, according to the USGS. It struck 107 miles beneath the earth’s surface, meaning it was too deep to cause signiﬁcant damage or casualties, Indonesian authorities said. East Nusa Tenggara Police Chief Rudi Darmoko said power outages hampered the spread of infor-

mation about the impact of the earthquake in cities and villages, complicating search and rescue efforts. “We are continuing to collect reports of damage and casualties, but there are communication disruptions,” Darmoko said. He said quake-triggered landslides in Ende regency blocked the Trans-Flores highway, a roughly 435mile paved mountain road spanning Flores Island, from Labuan Bajo to Larantuka. The head of the National Disaster Management Agency, Suharyanto, said

rescuers have recovered at least 47 bodies, mostly in Sikka, Manggarai and East Manggarai, and at least 50 people were taken to hospitals. Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, said the quake ﬂattened at least 157 houses and damaged nearly 200 more, forcing about 2,000 villagers to abandon their homes and move to temporary shelters. The powerful temblor also destroyed more than 100 public facilities, including schools, medical centers and churches. The death toll could rise because landslides triggered by the earthquake buried or cut off many remote villages across six regencies on Flores Island, said Fathur Rahman, who heads the Search and Rescue Ofﬁce in Maumere, the capital of Sikka. Some remote villages are completely buried, he said, and damaged infrastructure and a lack of heavy equipment were hindering rescue efforts. Authorities deployed three helicopters and a rescue vessel to support logistics and emergency response operations, including potential evacuations. East Nusa Tenggara consists of numerous islands and presents significant transportation and access challenges.

Iran, Oman work on strait deal amid ship attacks BY ARSALAN SHAHLA, SARA GHARAIBEH and CATHERINE LUCEY Bloomberg News (TNS)

Iran and Oman appear to be edging closer to a deal on how the Strait of Hormuz should be managed, agreeing on routes through the key waterway that’s proved a major stumbling block in efforts to end almost six months of war between the Islamic Republic and the U.S. The finalization of a “shipping map” forms part of a broader accord to govern trafﬁc through the strait and constitutes an independent arrangement between the two states that will uphold their sovereignty and ensure the safe transit of vessels, Defa Press cited Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei as saying. The state-run news agency didn’t spell out whether ships will be charged transit fees or what security arrangements would be made for them, saying another phase of talks would be held. The move follows a series of attacks in Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited before the war. The U.S. wasn’t party to its negotiation and is unlikely to agree to terms that don’t restore free passage along

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By VAHID SALEMI

A man rides on his motorbike on Saturday in Tehran, Iran, past a billboard with a message that reads in Farsi: ‘We must rise up’ and an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the U.S. and Israel strikes on Feb. 28. the route linking the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose almost 6% this week as hopes faded of a quick resolution to a deadlock that’s disrupted the ﬂow of oil and other key commodities to global markets. There had been some 65 confirmed incidents involving vessels in Hormuz and the broader Middle East during the conflict and 17 seafarers had died as of Aug. 11, according to the International Maritime Organization. Attacks have continued since then, with the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations saying on Saturday that it had been notified

of a projectile striking the hull of a bulk carrier. And two Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. vessels were struck while transiting Hormuz on Thursday and another was hit on Friday evening, according to reports from the United Arab Emirates’ state-run WAM news. Meanwhile, the U.S. is readying new economic measures to force Tehran to capitulate in the war, which began when America and Israel launched airstrikes against the Islamic Republic on Feb. 28 and has claimed thousands of lives — most of them in Iran. President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that the U.S. plans to hit

At least 1 student among 5 people shot at Virginia State University BY PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press

Five people were wounded in a shooting involving multiple suspects at Virginia State University early Saturday, prompting a campus lockdown and police investigation just as students got ready for a new school year. It happened near the university’s Quad Annexes, where campus police and Chesterfield County officers discovered ﬁve people suffering from gunshot wounds outside campus dormitories. At least one of the wounded people was later conﬁrmed to be a stu-

dent, the university said in a statement. The shooting was still under investigation later Saturday and happened as Virginia State’s academic year begins. According to the university’s website, residence halls opened for students a week ago, and classes resume on Monday. Many students had just completed the university’s “New Trojans Experience” for incoming students. Police and university officials have not identified any of the victims. The five were taken to hospitals, and one initially listed as having life-threatening injuries has been upgraded

to critical condition, county police said. The others suffered injuries that were not lifethreatening, police said. The person conﬁrmed to be a student was among those whose injuries were not life-threatening, and the student has been released from a hospital, the university said. The university said in a statement Saturday that the shooting involves “multiple suspects.” It said in a statement later in the day that law enforcement did not believe there was an immediate threat to the campus community, and a campus lockdown had been lifted.

Iran’s economy hard and he didn’t care if the conﬂict ends before the November U.S. midterm elections, which will hinge on voter perceptions of the economy. In a speech on Long Island Friday, Trump said a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports was a “wall of steel” that enabled Washington to effectively govern Hormuz. “Pretty soon I’ll be declaring the Hormuz strait a territory of the United States,” he said. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said an agreement with Oman wouldn’t translate into the strait’s reopening. That “is a separate issue. It depends on fulﬁlling oth-

er conditions that the U.S. must abide by for it to take place,” he said on his Telegram channel on Saturday. While Iran is in contact with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan, who are passing messages between Tehran and Washington, “this does not constitute negotiation. We have not yet made a decision to resume negotiations with the U.S.,” he added. Trump has struggled to ﬁnd an off-ramp to the war and his push for renewed economic pressure on Iran comes as the U.S. faces a shortfall of key munitions and mounting domestic opposition to an expanded military campaign.

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Indiana authorities: At least 5 killed in severe weather BY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press

Indiana authorities said at least five people have died as a result of severe storms and ﬂooding across the state this week, as ﬁrst responders used boats to rescue more people Saturday from rising waters in neighborhoods along the White River in Indianapolis. The state has been hammered over the past week by heavy rains, resulting in rivers reaching record levels and sending residents in search of higher ground. More than a dozen counties have declared local disasters, with much of the latest damage concentrated along river corridors from Hamilton County heading into the northern Indianapolis suburbs. Farther east in Delaware County, sheriff’s deputies on Friday found the body of a

PHOTO PROVIDED By INDIANAPOLIS FIRE DEPARTMENT

Floodwaters rise Saturday in northern Indianapolis, Ind. 58-year-old woman who they believe died after trying to drive through floodwaters. They also recovered the body of a teen who was ﬁrst reported missing on Wednes-

day after jumping into a river. Earlier in the week, a 4-year-old boy was killed when a tree fell on his home in Jennings County. “My heart is with the fami-

lies and loved ones of the five Hoosiers we have lost and every family whose life has been changed by these storms,” Gov. Mike Braun said in a statement issued

Saturday. “Please continue to take flooding seriously and stay away from floodwaters.” Braun confirmed Saturday that President Donald Trump intends to approve his request for federal resources to help in response to the flooding and the recovery. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett was joined by emergency managers during a briefing Saturday as he urged residents along the White River to evacuate. He said the city was experiencing its most severe flooding in more than 30 years, noting that conditions were shifting rapidly. Jacob Spence, director of Marion County Emergency Management, called it a once-in-a-lifetime type flood. “This is an unprecedented event, and unfortunately we’re setting some new records,” he told The Associated Press.

The National Weather Service reported that more than 11 inches of rain fell over a two-day period in some areas. The White River crested at more than 24 feet in the communities of Anderson and Noblesville, surpassing records set in 1913. Flash-flood warnings and watches remained in place Saturday across a swath of central Indiana. Forecasters expected the White River to crest Saturday evening in the Indianapolis area, where National Guard vehicles were among those helping with the rescue efforts. Rita Reith, a spokesperson with the Indianapolis Fire Department, put the number of rescues at 91 people and 45 pets as of early afternoon. “The water is still rising, so heed the warnings,” said Todd Wilson, director of the city’s public works department.

Lala strengthens into hurricane, bears down on Hawaii’s Big Island BY ALEXA ST. JOHN and ED WHITE Associated Press

Hawaii’s Big Island was threatened Saturday with its ﬁrst possible direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years as Hurricane Lala roared in the Paciﬁc Ocean and gusty wind, waves and rain pounded the region. The National Hurricane Center said Lala’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane. The storm’s center was forecast to move over or near the island’s southern end by the evening, lashing its worst winds at volcanic slopes thousands of feet above sea level. Whitecap surf slammed ashore nonstop, howling winds whipped the tops of palm trees, and waterways swelled with fast-moving runoff from relentless rain that blew nearly sideways. Gov. Josh Green, noting

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE PHOTO By STEPHEN LAM

Shaheer Faltas, left, and his father-in-law, Joe Brosnan, fill sandbags on Friday in Captain Cook, Hawaii, in preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Lala. rainfall of 2 inches an hour, said “people should be sheltering in place now.” Forecasters said higher elevations on the island, dominated by the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could get as much as 25 inches of rain. That could cause life-

threatening mudslides in a mountainous area where people live off the grid in improvised housing. Earlier the governor called it an “enormous storm,” capable of destructive flooding and even the possibility of wildfires kicked up by

strong winds across the island chain. Electricity was knocked out for 32% of customers on the Big Island, according to poweroutage.us. The island, population 210,000, is Hawaii’s largest. Bobby Camara, a 75-yearold lifelong resident, said he planned to “hunker down, cross my fingers, hope the lights don’t go out” at a care home just outside Hilo. He said gas stations were busy as people sought fuel for chain saws and vehicles. “I think stocking up is part of life over here. ... You learn to be self-reliant,” Camara said. Mike Caputo, who lives in Keaau, near the Big Island’s east coast, said his power generator was ready and a 10,000-gallon home water tank was full. He said the main concern was flash flooding and fallen trees, especially albizia, a common tree. “They’re not very sturdy,

but they grow extremely large,” said Caputo, 50, a local ﬁre captain. “They can make roads impassable.” The Big Island was under a hurricane warning, and tropical storm warnings were issued for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Ka-

hoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. The latest forecast has Lala striking “very close to the southern tip of the Big Island,” said Vanessa Almanza, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.

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PROVIDED PHOTO

A Ten Commandments poster is displayed in a classroom. classrooms, arguing that STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER “faith should be a personal A copy of the Ten Commandments, similar to the one pictured, is required in Louisiana choice.” One charter leader public school classrooms under a Louisiana state law. said their school had not put up the displays because it had not received tape or other mounting materials. Continued from page 1A “I don’t know that this is a high priority for people,” said a New Orleans teacher who had not seen any of the But for now, the law has posters in her school. taken effect. Some school The law does not specify systems quickly put up the penalties for noncompliposters. Others remained wary. But Gov. Jeff Landry ance. directed districts to comply, A spokesperson for Murarguing that students will rill said schools should fol“greatly benefit” from seelow the law, adding that the state Board of Elementary ing the posters in school. and Secondary Education is The Louisiana Family Foresponsible for the law’s imrum, a conservative group that says the Ten Commandplementation. The board has added the Ten Commandments are a cornerstone of Western civilization that all ments mandate to the polistudents should be exposed cies schools must adhere to. to, donated some 55,000 But a state Department posters. And state Attorof Education spokesperson said there is not a reporting ney General Liz Murrill, requirement or an enforcewhose office created poster templates and guidance, ment mechanism in either promised to defend the law the law or the board policy. against any additional chalBrant Osborn, president of the St. Tammany teachlenges. STAFF PHOTO By LESLIE WESTBROOK After attracting national ers union, said teachers still media coverage and stoking Most of the Ten Commandments posters, like this one should comply. a debate over religious liber- hanging in a Lafayette Parish public school, came from the “They’re not going to come lock you up,” he said. “But ty and church-state separa- Louisiana Family Forum, an influential advocacy group that they might write you up.” tion, the posters went up in says it promotes biblical principles. The U.S. Supreme Court most Louisiana classrooms without incident, according came from the Louisiana district had principals sign struck down a similar Kento school district officials Family Forum, an influential a document verifying that and teachers. Some school advocacy group that says it they received the posters, systems sought to forestall promotes biblical principles. which they were told to incontroversy by installing The organization spent stall in classrooms “before the posters over the sum- nearly $100,000 in donated teachers arrive on campus.” funds and in-kind contribuIn St. Tammany Parish, mer. St. Tammany Parish Su- tions to print and deliver the some School Board memperintendent Jabbia said he posters to every public col- bers objected to Murrill’s had been “extremely ner- lege and school system in the designs, particularly the one vous” about the rollout, add- state, said Gene Mills, the depicting Moses and Johning that he wants students of group’s president. The non- son. But while the board all religious backgrounds to profit used the four poster seeks other options, the disfeel welcome in school. But designs created by Murrill’s trict told schools to use the he said he was relieved to office, including one with an donated posters, said Jabbia. find that students and staff- image of Moses and a photo ers seem to have taken the of U.S. House Speaker Mike Some resistance Johnson alongside the Ten posters in stride. Some classrooms have yet “I think everybody under- Commandments. to put up the posters, though “Don’t kill or steal it’s not clear that state or lostands it’s a state law at this point,” he said, “and they’re shouldn’t be controversial,” cal officials are checking. Murrill said in a prepared just moving forward.” In New Orleans, the school Though the displays statement. “Louisiana pub- district distributed the dohaven’t created an uproar lic schools should follow the nated posters it received in schools, they still upset law.” to more than 75 campuses, some students and educaSome districts distrib- a NOLA Public Schools tors, who argue that the law uted the donated posters to spokesperson said. Several promotes Christianity and schools this summer, along charter school leaders said restricts religious freedom. with instructions based on they hung up the posters, but a few said they are waitA few teachers said they Murrill’s guidance. covered up the posters or The East Baton Rouge ing on additional shipments. took them down. Parish school system told Ja’Ryan Berryill, a senior at principals in a June memo Edna Karr High School, said A low-key rollout to make sure the posters he is a person of faith who valMost of the Ten Command- are “clearly visible to all ues the Ten Commandments, ments posters now hanging students from their desks.” but he doesn’t think they in Louisiana’s public schools The Jefferson Parish school should be in public school

DISPLAY

tucky law in 1980, but in recent years the court’s conservative majority has been more open to religious displays in public spaces. Many legal observers expect the high court to eventually weigh in on Louisiana’s law or a nearly identical one in Texas, which the 5th Circuit recently upheld. Louisiana’s statute requires the posters to include a statement explaining that some early American textbooks featured the Ten Commandments. But teachers will have to navigate student questions about the commandments, including the prohibition on adultery and coveting a neighbor’s “manservant” or “maidservant.” Older students might ask how the law squares with the First

Amendment’s guarantee of religious freedom. Abed, the Jefferson Parish student, said students in her art class began discussing the poster as soon as they spotted it. Abed, who is Muslim, said she considers the display an endorsement of Christianity that doesn’t belong in public schools. “Schools aren’t a place of worship,” she said, “so why do we have the Ten Commandments on every wall?” Mills said the law is clear. “Once the lawsuit was settled,” he said. “there was no longer any questions as to what the statute requires.” Staff writer Charles Lussier contributed reporting. Email Patrick Wall at patrick.wall@theadvocate. com.

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Pain affects every part of your life- walking, sitting, and even sleeping. Nothing’s worse than feeling great mentally, but physically feeling held back from life because your nerve or back pain hurts - and it just won’t go away. Scientific studies tell us that spinal discs are most often the root cause of aches and pain that people suffer from. These discs act as cushions between the vertebrae and create the necessary space for nerves to exit the spinal column. But when discs are injured, worn down, or begin to degenerate, they bulge or herniate - pressing on nerve roots and triggering pain in the back or neck. This pressure can also lead to radiating pain in the hips, legs, feet or arms. We are Dr. Scott LeBlanc and Dr. Dana LeBlanc, owners of LeBlanc Spine Center. We know what it’s like to be in pain, because we see it every day. We have treated thousands of patients over the past 14 years at our Baton Rouge and Kenner offices. Disc issues are common, but patients suffering are usually given limited options of treatment. We run these big newspaper ads to let people in the community know there is another option- without injections or surgery! NON-SURGICAL SPINAL DECOMPRESSION is a breakthrough, non-invasive treatment for herniated, ruptured, bulging and degenerative discs. It has been proven to reverse disc herniations and relieve nerve pain, back pain, and radiating pain. At LeBlanc Spine Center, we have state-of-the-art technology that iis FDA cleared and very successful in relieving pain in pain- even when other treatments have failed. Unlike other treatments that only mask symptoms, spinal decompression addresses the root cause of your pain-restoring disc height, improving spinal alignment, and reducing nerve compression. PROOF THIS TREATMENT WORKS There’s plenty of research to back up the claims of Spinal Decompression Therapy and its effectiveness. Here are just a few of the published scientific studies …

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SEE WHAT SOME OF OUR PATIENTS HAVE TO SAY … Before coming to LeBlanc Spine Center, I was dealing with low back pain and an SI joint problem, and I had no gel between my lower joints. I had been struggling with this for about a year and had tried exercises and wearing belts just to get by. Since starting care here, I’d say I’ve improved about 80%. The pain relief has made a real difference, and I’ve also noticed improved posture. The staff here is a great group to work with - they really care and treat you well. I can’t say there’s anything I disliked about my care, because everything has been positive. I may not be doing anything brand new, but I’m doing it with less pain than before, and that has made life better. I would definitely recommend LeBlanc Spine Center to others because they’re a great group to work with, they help improve posture, and most importantly, they help reduce pain.

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6A ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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AMTRAK

Continued from page 1A year,” Southern Rail Commission Chair Knox Ross said. But he added the commission — a group of regional leaders who push for more railways — will work with the Federal Railroad Administration over the next year to study how to lower crash risks. “That’s just something we’ve got to try to solve,” he said. It is also an urgent question around the country as train travel stages a comeback. Ridership is surging. Amtrak is expanding its ﬂeet. But many passengers say traveling by train on the Gulf Coast is unique. “People are up and down and around and talking to each other,” said Kay Cox, a travel agent in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. She has taken more than 20 groups by train to New Orleans and has also become friends with the route’s crew and conductor. “You’re not going to get on a train in New York City going to Long Island,” she said, “and have the same kind of social experience.”

Success and promise The more than $200 million project took decades of persistence and includes a twice-daily train that also stops in the Mississippi cities of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. And it is the first time trains have connected passengers along the Gulf Coast since before Hurricane Katrina. Amtrak guessed about 70,000 passengers would ride in the first year. But its leaders now expect to hit the 150,000 passenger mark next week. Most riders board in New Orleans or Mobile, and both cities are feeling the influence. Nearly 200,000 visitors from the Mobile area arrived in downtown New Orleans and the French Quarter between January and July, according to New Orleans & Company, the city’s tourism marketing agency. The number rose by 18% — or almost 30,000 people — compared to the same period last year before the Mardi Gras Service began its run. It is a small shift for New Orleans, which gets millions of visitors each year. But Walt Leger, who leads New Orleans & Company, said he expects more international travelers and businesspeople could begin taking the train as trust in the route grows. David Clark, who serves on the Southern Rail Commission and leads Mobile’s tourism agency, said the city’s restaurants, museums and tour groups are also reporting their numbers are up. “We’re very encouraged,” he said. The trains are dominated by leisure travelers and have become popular with social groups, including high school reunions. Cox said she also suspects more passengers are using the train to fly out of Louis

STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

Travelers walk to the Amtrak train in New Orleans to take the Mardi Gras line bound for Mobile, Ala., on Aug. 2. Armstrong New Orleans International Airport because their luggage keeps getting larger. There are also new signs of economic progress. In Bay St. Louis, bars, restaurants and shops have opened in recent years steps from the train stop. In Pascagoula, an old train depot just turned into a brewpub. In Mobile, leaders hope a 10,000-seat arena opening next year will lure New Orleans visitors via Amtrak for concerts. “It’s a fun thing to do,” said Tim Avegno, a New Orleanian who recently took the train with his grandchildren to explore Mobile and visit several of its museums. “We enjoyed it.”

Safety questions Avegno also raised a question: Why do trains keep hitting cars? Amtrak trains have been involved in eight crashes along the route in the past year, according to records from the Federal Railroad Administration. A young couple died last September when an Amtrak train hit their car as it drove over a crossing without gates in Pass Christian, Mississippi. A mother and daughter were killed in February in Mobile, an accident report says, when they drove around lowered crossing gates. Some collisions have also raised questions about the safety of Amtrak’s crew and passengers. Authorities said nine passengers went to the hospital one night this month after their train hit a semitruck stuck on the tracks near Waveland, Mississippi. Amtrak officials also said several crew members were injured in April when a train hit a semitruck stalled at a crossing south of Mobile. Many rail leaders around the region said they are perplexed by the rate of crashes on the Gulf Coast, where freight trains have been a constant for decades. Others questioned whether the speed of Amtrak trains

might add risk. Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesperson, said train speeds vary along the route. The maximum authorized speed for passenger trains between New Orleans and Mobile is 79 miles per hour. Accident reports show some trains involved in the crashes were traveling close to that speed. Freight trains also occasionally hit cars on the Gulf Coast. But accident reports from several recent freight crashes show the trains are often moving closer to 40 miles per hour. Freight trains have led to fewer deadly crashes than Amtrak in the past two years along the route, according to FRA records. If locals are used to slower freight trains, “that could be a factor,” said Christopher Barkan, a rail safety researcher at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who leads a group of universities studying how to make railways safer. “It’s a never-ending problem,” Barkan said. “It’s up to the motor vehicle operator to respect the fact that the train has priority at all times because they can’t stop and motor vehicles can.” The Mississippi Department of Transportation last year ﬁnished leveling nine railroad crossings in Long Beach, Mississippi, to lower the risk of semitrucks getting stuck there. They are planning to do the same in Pass Christian. And most — but not all — rail crossings in coastal Mississippi now have gates that lower when a train is approaching. Ross said the Southern Rail Commission is planning to use part of a $500,000 federal grant to study safety at rail crossings. Amtrak and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College this month also hosted a rail safety training for instructors who teach students entering the trucking industry.

Amtrak’s future The question of safety is

one of several the Mardi Gras Service is confronting. With federal help, state and local governments in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have funded the route for three years. But the Southern Rail Commission is still working with the states to secure permanent funding. The commission is also contemplating new steps on the Gulf Coast — maybe a seasonal stop in Ocean Springs, or a bus that would take Amtrak passengers from Mobile to Pensacola. Its leaders hope to leverBANK-OWNED ONLINE AUCTION

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age the Mardi Gras Ser- between Baton Rouge and vice’s success toward other New Orleans. projects, including the pos“It helps make that case,” sibility of twice-daily trains Ross said.

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U.S. pulls last carrier in Asia as Trump shifts focus President concentrating on Iran, Western Hemisphere

BY BEN FINLEY and DIDI TANG

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s war against Iran is stretching the limits of U.S. aircraft carriers and leaving the western Pacific without one of the key American warships as China shows more signs of aggression. The USS George Washington is departing the Pacific and expected to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East amid growing concerns about mental health and supply issues aboard the long-deployed carrier. The Lincoln has had its time at sea extended from its original May return date to support operations against Iran. The lack of a U.S. carrier in the Pacific may be shortlived if the Navy deploys another in the next couple of months. But it shows how the open-ended operations with Iran are running some American sailors ragged, analysts say, while the Trump administration further retreats from the Asia-Pacific region and focuses on the Western Hemisphere. “The administration says that the Pacific is supposed to be the most important behind the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Center for Strategic

and International Studies. Instead, the U.S. is “doing the exact opposite” of its previously expressed goal of pulling out of the Middle East. American allies in the Pacific are unsettled over the unpredictability of the Republican administration, Poling said, while Beijing “is quite happy with U.S. distraction, with the frustration of U.S. allies and partners.” Beijing sees the U.S. military presence in the region as a threat to China’s rise and an obstacle to its ambition to seize Taiwan, the selfgoverning island it claims as its own. But the United States has argued that the Paciﬁc region is too important economically to lose. No one expects China to invade Taiwan because an American aircraft carrier has left the region. But the carrier’s absence gives the Chinese another opportunity to show its strength, said Bryan Clark, a former Navy submariner who is a defense analyst at the Hudson Institute. “They’re using this as part of the narrative to demonstrate to the Philippines, to Japan, to Indonesia and others that the U.S. is not the big dog in the western Pacific anymore,” Clark said. “They would just prefer that countries in the region decide that China is the bigger power and the U.S. is not able to guarantee their security anymore.” China conducted naval exercises this week with Indonesia and recently has shown signs of aggression toward Japan and the Philippines, two key U.S. allies that also have territorial disputes with

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By GIANNIS ANGELAKIS

The USS Gerald R. Ford departs from Souda Naval Base near Chania on the island of Crete, Greece, on Feb. 26. Beijing. China carried out military drills this month near the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea. Both China and the Philippines have claims over the shoal. Last month, a Chinese guidedmissile destroyer conducted a live-fire exercise off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinotori. Adm. Frank Bradley, head of the U.S. Special Operations Command, has been trying to reassure regional allies of Washington’s commitment. He was in Manila on Thursday, telling his Filipino counterparts that U.S. special operations forces are ready to step up joint exercises to strengthen the countries’ alliance. He also is expected to travel to Japan. Evan Sankey, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute who focuses on U.S. policy toward China, said aircraft carriers provide psychological assurance to U.S. allies. The

absence of carriers in the region, he said, “adds to the general sense that the U.S. is distracted by events in the Middle East.” Trump has relied heavily on aircraft carriers to support military operations during his second term. For example, the USS Gerald R. Ford returned home in midMay after an 11-month deployment, the longest since the Vietnam War, during which it supported the U.S. fight against Iran and the capture of Venezuela’s thenleader, Nicolás Maduro. The Ford had experienced a fire in a laundry space that forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs and left hundreds of sailors without places to sleep. Meanwhile, the Lincoln has spent a record uninterrupted time at sea of more than 240 days. Democratic lawmakers have been calling for investigations and

greater visibility into conditions aboard the ship. Warships and their crews can only handle so much, said Robert Farley, who teaches national security and diplomacy at the University of Kentucky and often writes about aircraft carriers. “People don’t get enough rest. It’s psychologically exhausting. And R&R is part of keeping the crew healthy,” Farley said. “Sometimes it’s framed as, ‘These people haven’t had a vacation.’ But we are dealing with wellknown limits on the capacity of a crew to operate at top efﬁciency over time. And that just declines.” Clark, of the Hudson Institute, said the squeeze on the nation’s aircraft carriers stems from the lack of preparation and planning for the Iran war. “If we were going to mobilize to do this kind of conﬂict, and we anticipated it might go this long, we might have

done some changes to the carrier schedule to make sure more would be available,” Clark said. Clark said the Navy has 11 aircraft carriers and typically deploys two or three at a time. But it could soon deploy four if the USS Theodore Roosevelt leaves San Diego for the Middle East, allowing the Washington to return to Paciﬁc. But the massive warships will need maintenance, likely causing a bottleneck at the nation’s only two carrier shipyards. “We’ll end up with a maintenance debt that needs to be paid for the next few years,” Clark said. “We’ll probably have less carrier presence than we’ve had in the previous years because carriers will be lined up to get into the shipyard.” Michael Swaine, a senior research fellow in the Quincy Institute’s East Asia Program, questions the future need for aircraft carriers as warfare rapidly changes. Carriers can be more easily targeted with drones and missiles, particularly by an adversary such as China, Swaine said, while smaller ships and submarines can be as effective in striking targets as the ﬁghter jets that launch off a carrier. Top Navy officials have indicated a desire to move away from a heavy reliance on carriers. Adm. Daryl Caudle, chief of naval operations, told The Associated Press in February that he wants to convince commanders to use smaller, newer ships and other assets instead of consistently turning to huge aircraft carriers.

Israeli airstrikes Ukraine attacks Russia’s Samara industrial site in Lebanon kill 11 By The Associated Press

BY BASSEM MROUE

Associated Press

BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people Saturday, in the deadliest attacks since a truce between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect on June 20. Lebanon’s Health Ministry and state news agency said an airstrike that targeted a home on the edge of Ansar village killed seven people, including three children, and wounded two. The second, on the village of Deir al-Zahrani, killed four and wounded 17. Israel and the Lebanese government announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the countries, which remain technically at war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment. Hezbollah has refused direct talks and wasn’t party to the deal.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam criticized Israel’s airstrikes on southern Lebanon, saying they intimidate “residents in their homes” and undermine efforts to stabilize the situation in the south. “The seven martyrs of the Israeli airstrike on the town of Ansar are not military infrastructure and the children and women killed were not military targets,” Salam said on X. He added that it is the job of the Lebanese state to deal with any military infrastructure in the country. President Joseph Aoun said in comments released by his ofﬁce that the strikes are “a clear message to the negotiation track and to the American efforts aimed at implementing this agreement.” Intense Israeli airstrikes early Saturday also hit the strategic Ali Taher hill, which overlooks parts of the southern city of Nabatiyeh and main roads leading to it, NNA reported. Despite the truce, Israel’s military has continued near-daily attacks in the area north of the Litani River, with large areas to the south under Israeli military control.

A large-scale Ukrainian attack struck industrial infrastructure in Russia’s southwestern Samara region Saturday, a Russian ofﬁcial said. Ivan Noskov, head of the region’s capital, Samara, said air defense forces had repelled a “massive” missile attack, with “localized damage” to the city’s industrial sites. He also said that medical assistance has been provided to those injured in the attack, but did not give further details. Ukraine has stepped up its long-range aerial attacks on Russian military industries and energy facilities, aiming to cut Moscow’s revenue for the war and make Russians feel the consequences of the invasion, now in its ﬁfth year. Writing on social media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Kyiv’s forces had carried out a strike against Samara’s Progress Center, which operates under Russian space agency Roscosmos and is involved in producing rocket technology and electronics. He said that the strike used Ukraine’s domesti-

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skyy wrote. While most of Ukraine’s strikes have a range of less than 125 miles, its longerrange attacks have increased dramatically this year.

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WIND

The Block Island Wind Farm near Rhode Island takes a beating from waves in 2016. The wind farm was the first to operate in U.S. waters. Several Louisiana companies with roots in the offshore oil and gas industry helped design and build the farm.

Continued from page 1A proclaimed his opposition to offshore wind and issued an executive order on his first day in office halting new leases. More recently, the Interior Department has negotiated with energy firms to buy out offshore wind leases, including RWE, which in 2023 won a bid to develop an area 36 miles off the coast of Cameron Parish. The settlement announced Aug. 6 will see RWE relinquish that lease — the first ever in the Gulf’s federal waters — and others off New York and California, then invest in other energy projects. “After careful consideration, it was determined there is no path forward to permit these projects in the U.S. for the foreseeable future,” RWE said in a statement. The Gulf project was a closely watched indicator of the future of offshore wind power in the region. Louisiana companies, already contracted for wind projects in other parts of the country due to the state’s long experience offshore, stood to gain from a burgeoning new industry in their backyard. But Trump and other opponents have cited a range of grievances related to wind power — from costs to national security claims — and focused heavily on opening up new areas for oil and gas drilling instead. The Trump administration has also put an emphasis on developing nuclear power. Des Allemands-based Otto Candies LLC, which began business in 1942 servicing oil rigs, has recently branched out into the wind sector, currently operating three vessels off the East Coast. The company’s main source of business remains the oil-and-gas sector, but it saw prospects for future growth in wind. “It is disappointing to us from our company’s perspective,” said CEO Otto Candies III. “The offshore

PHOTO PROVIDED By U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGy

wind is a burgeoning new market for us.” He said he hoped for a turnaround in the future, but “pushback from the current administration has been difﬁcult on our clients.”

‘Very important’ In addition to the RWE lease, the state under previous Gov. John Bel Edwards had entered into two agreements with companies for wind farms in nearshore state waters. One of them, for a project off Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, was withdrawn in 2025. The second, for the “Cajun Wind” project off Cameron Parish, remains in effect. But the state Department of Conservation and Energy was not aware of any imminent construction related to it. The U.S. arm of Danish company Vestas, which is behind the project, did not respond to requests for comment. Gov. Jeff Landry is a close ally of Trump and has backed away from his predecessor’s climate action plan, which was the first in the Gulf South. The state’s economic development arm did not respond to a request for comment. Regional economic development organization GNO Inc., once a strong proponent of the wind sector, also did not respond to a request for

comment. Those keeping a close eye on the offshore wind industry say they believe the pendulum could swing back once Trump exits office but hold little hope for now. “All-of-the-above energy is very important for Louisiana,” said state Rep. Joe Orgeron, R-Cut Off, whose former company Montco supplied lift boats to help build the nation’s first-ever offshore wind farm off Block Island in the northeast. “Our inherent evolved skills of working in offshore energy support lend perfectly to a broad offshore wind industry continuing to grow.” One 2024 study found that Louisiana could see 3,700 more jobs by 2031 in connection with the wind industry. RWE’s settlement with the Trump administration was the fifth such deal with wind developers, industry watchers said. It will see RWE instead invest $900 million for a 16% stake in Woodside Energy’s Louisiana LNG Project near Lake Charles, among other investments. Louisiana has embraced liquefied natural gas development and positioned itself as a hub for the industry, with major projects in the state’s southwest and in Plaquemines Parish.

LNG plants supercool gas to liquefy it, allowing it to be stored on vessels for export. The industry is an important emitter of planet-warming greenhouse gases, though it produces signiﬁcant jobs during plant construction and provides the nation with economic leverage abroad. “Americans deserve an energy system built on common sense, not one dependent on costly subsidies or technologies that can’t meet our country’s current demand,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in announcing the RWE settlement.

‘Not valuable anymore’ The cost of offshore wind power is relatively high for now, though it is expected to drop once the technology matures in the United States. There are also no fuel requirements once the turbines are up and running. They can also help provide a hedge against gas price volatility and allow industrial plants to sign virtual power supply agreements to show they are reducing their climate impacts, said Madelyn Smith, senior program manager for the Southeast Wind Coalition nonproﬁt. The RWE project was expected to produce 2 gigawatts of electricity once built out. That would be

a time as offshore projects, and solar has seen some success despite pushback from residents. In Louisiana, at least two onshore wind projects are moving ahead, said Smith. One is in Morehouse Parish and another is in St. Landry and Evangeline parishes, she said. But for offshore wind, the Trump administration has left little doubt that it will stand in the way, she said. “The federal government just stopped issuing any sort of permits, so these leases became functionally just not valuable anymore,” Smith said. “And they’re expensive, so it makes sense that developers would return those assets and reinvest money in something that could actually move forward.” Greg Upton, executive director of the Energy Institute at LSU, said a favorable political climate, reduced costs and regulatory certainty could see Gulf offshore wind reemerge in the future. “Economics has a way of driving policy,” he said. “If natural gas prices were to meaningfully increase and people were to anticipate that that was going to continue, it’s absolutely plausible that offshore wind could happen in the Gulf of America in the future.”

enough to power around 350,000 homes, but a primary focus of the project was expected to be power supply agreements. Such agreements help pay for large-scale renewable electricity projects by allowing companies to effectively buy clean energy. Industry faces increasing pressure, particularly those exporting to Europe, to produce products using at least some renewable energy. The European Union has, for one, instituted a carbon fee on certain imported goods. Not all renewable projects have been scuttled. Onshore Email Mike Smith at wind has not faced as tough msmith@theadvocate.com.

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LOUISIANA POLITICS Cassidy’s efforts to reform Social Security nearly out of time WASHINGTON — With the primary losses of Democratic Connecticut Rep. John Larson on Tuesday and Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy in May, two of the top agitators for fixing Social Security, which is expected to run out of money in six years, will be out of Congress in four months. “I got limited time left,” Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said Aug. 7 on the Senate floor before leaving for a five-week recess. “I don’t feel like sitting back and being a good politician when I should be a good senator working to fix Social Security, because every day Mark it gets worse.” Ballard Social Security benefits, generally, are paid out of taxes that are collected on a share of each worker’s paycheck. For workers making more than $184,500 annually, those payroll tax collections end once that share is reached — translating into higher take-home pay for the few months after the cap is reached. A separate trust fund covers what benefits the payroll taxes can’t. That’s the fund running out of money in 2032. Once the trust fund is empty, benefits will be reduced by 22.5% on average, according to estimates by the actuaries on whom Social Security administrators. An average monthly check is about $2,400. Benefits will decrease by about $450 to $500 per month — unless Congress shores up the program’s finances. Politically, that’s easier said than done. The last significant effort to address Social Security solvency began in 1981 and took two years. For years, Cassidy and Larson, who has chaired the House Social Security subcommittee, have

Landry says he’s not speaking to N.O. leaders

Gov. Jeff Landry made clear Friday that he is still distancing himself from New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno and other city leaders after a grand jury in the city indicted Attorney General Liz Murrill last month. “She’s always free to have a discussion with my staff,” Landry told host Jim Engster on WRKF’s Talk Louisiana. Landry “I’m not going to be speaking to them personally until this investigation is done, until I know who did what, what happened and why it happened in the way that it transpired. No one believes that this grand jury just, on its own, took up this matter.” Tensions have been high between state and city leaders. During the legislative session earlier this year, Landry helped push a law merging the city’s criminal clerk of court ofﬁce into its civil clerk of court, preventing Calvin Duncan from taking ofﬁce as criminal clerk after an overwhelming election win. City leaders argued that this created

by Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat who is also leaving the Senate on January 3. They decided to “make a run” at jumpstarting the debate with a bill that would circumvent some of the Senate’s baked-in rules that slows down legislative progress to allow more deliberation. “It doesn’t pick a solution,” Durbin said of his and Cassidy’s resolution. “It just says ‘don’t waste any time. Start talking about it.” But even that idea ran into political headwinds. “This proposal, in my view, is effectively a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, also a frequent collaborator on fixing Social Security finances. Wyden noted that, because only the House can begin bills that levy taxes, the proposal to lift the $184,500 cap and continue collecting payroll taxes from well-off workers is off the table. “Each time Republicans get their hands on Social Security, it seems that cuts get made, life gets worse for seniors,” Wyden ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ROD LAMKEy JR. said. Friday was the 91st anniversary Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, departs the U.S. Capitol on Aug. 7 in Washington, D.C. of President Franklin D. Roosbeen on a kind of traveling show cratic Party primary Tuesday the trust fund. evelt’s signing of the law that crehawking their different plans to night largely on arguments that, A couple other ideas are also ated Social Security. keep Social Security afloat. at age 78, he had gotten too old. on the table, including a package “As policymakers blow out Cassidy has A handful of bills have been that would create a commission to the candles on Social Security’s been in Congress filed, but none have enough suprecommend solutions. 91st birthday, they are doing far since 2009, first in port to continue the process. “The history of special commis- too little to ensure its continued the House, then longevity,” Maya MacGuineas, Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren, sions is littered with very good for two six-year president of the Committee for D-Massachusetts, is working with intentions and failed results,” terms in the Sena Responsible Federal Budget, conservative Sen. Bernie Moreno, AARP Executive Vice President a Washington-based centrist R-Ohio, on one package that Nancy LeaMond told the Senate ate. He lost the business-supported think tank would continue to collect payroll committee Aug. 5. May 16 Republiseeking lower deficits, said in a taxes after reaching the $184,500 There’s a little more than four can Party primaLarson statement. months to go before this 119th ry after President cap. “Social Security won’t make it Cassidy is working with VirCongress adjourns and the 120th Donald Trump endorsed a GOP past age 97 as things currently challenger, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, ginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine Congress — sans Cassidy and of Baton Rouge. on another plan that would create Larson — takes office. All legisla- stand,” she added. Larson, an insurance agent who a sovereign wealth fund, allowing tion needs to start again once the entered Congress in 1999, lost his administrators to invest the pronew Congress is seated. Email Mark Ballard at reelection in Connecticut’s Demo- ceeds and dedicate the profits to Cassidy said he was approached mballard@theadvocate.com.

a new, vacant position and moved actions. to appoint their own interim Some critics have accused clerk and call for a speLandry of using the indictcial election, a move later ment to score political overturned by the state points by railing against Supreme Court. New Orleans. But he arMurrill sent a letter to gued that trying to throw city leaders arguing they the sitting attorney genwere usurping the current eral in jail was a major Capitol threat to the rule of law. clerk and warning their Buzz jobs were at risk. Then a “We can’t just, like, STAFF grand jury indicted the gloss over it,” Landry said REPORTS attorney general on 16 felFriday. “We need to hold people accountable when ony counts of malfeasance they use our criminal justice in ofﬁce and public intimidation. system for their own personal axThat indictment was later grinding.” dropped after Moreno and other The governor also said, “Those city leaders issued a letter saying folks in New Orleans have played they were not intimidated and that footloose and fancy-free with their criminal justice system for the charges were far too long at a great expense of causing politilife and property and taxpayer cal havoc for the money.” city. But Landry Landry said there are “ample and Murrill have lines of communication” if the pushed for an city has problems that need state investigation into Moreno help. the grand jury “We’re not leaving, we’re not proceedings that abandoning New Orleans,” he led to the indictment. Landry ordered Louisiana State said. Police to investigate, while Murrill has called for a joint state and federal investigation. Last week, Murrill said she didn’t know the status of any investigation. Louisiana residents are more inMoreno has said she had nothterested in politics and talk about it more often than most Ameriing to do with the grand jury’s

Study examines political polarization

cans, and they are equally or slightly less polarized along partisan lines, a new survey found. The 2026 Louisiana Common Ground Survey, conducted by the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at LSU and the Public Affairs Research Council of Louisiana, surveyed 1,046 people on a range of questions about politics and partisanship. “On an abstract level, people in Louisiana appear to feel just as negatively about the opposing political party as they do nationwide, but there are more positive signs when you take it out of the realm of the abstract,” said Michael DiResto, director of the Reilly Center, in a news release. The study analyzed the polarization score — the difference between how a respondent rated their own party and the rival party on a scale from zero to 100. It found Louisiana residents saw a wide gap of 48.2 points, slightly lower than the 49.9 found in a similar national survey. When asked to picture a supporter of the opposite party who they personally know, that score dropped by more than 10 points to 38. Of those surveyed, 70% said they had a conversation in the past month with someone who has different political opinions

than their own. And 57% said they discussed government and politics with others either a few times a week or nearly every day, compared to 45% reported in national surveys. And the survey found broad agreement on many central questions about politics, including 81% saying they want elected officials to work harder to find common ground across the aisle. “These findings show that Louisianans can disagree on politics while still sharing important democratic values. That broad commitment to free speech, equal opportunity and constitutional principles creates space for more constructive debate and cooperation,” Steven Procopio, president of PAR, said in the release. Among other findings: only 8% of people said they posted frequently about politics on social media, and 70% said violence is never justified to achieve political goals, while 14% said it is sometimes justified. When asked if they would feel comfortable if their child married someone from the opposite political party, 46% reported feeling somewhat or very comfortable, 25% said they would be somewhat or very uncomfortable, and 29% said it wouldn’t matter either way.

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EDUCATION Making the most of back-to-school parent-teacher talks Tips can end the rush and tension for all involved

BY CHEYANNE MUMPHREY AP education writer

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Parent-teacher conferences can conjure a familiar scene: adults crammed into childsize chairs, listening to teachers run through a list of students’ achievements and struggles. For many families, they can also mean frustration. Today’s school conferences are sometimes 15 to 20 minutes, with little time for parents to ask their own questions. Adults may arrive with their own baggage about their time in school. They may be worried about being judged or dreading what a teacher may say about their child. For teachers, conferences can mean pressure to give a snapshot of a child’s progress, with the next opportunity to connect months away — if at all. The conference may be brief, but it can set the tone for a family’s relationship and partnership with the teacher. Parents, teachers and school administrators have these tips to make the conference productive and help build a stronger connection between home and school.

Communicate early Schools typically offer several early opportunities for parents and teachers to connect, from meet-the-teacher events and backto-school nights to open houses. By the time conferences are on the calendar, parents and teachers should already be communicating. But sometimes it can take weeks, or even months, to hear from your child’s teacher, who must establish relationships with dozens of families. Don’t wait, say parents and teachers alike. Take the initiative and reach out yourself. “Do you want to set your child up for success? It’s a yes or no. And if

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHEyANNE MUMPHREy

Emily Henderson sits at her desk in her first and second grade classroom ahead of the school year at BASIS Flagstaff in Flagstaff, Ariz. it’s a yes, then you have to be very involved,” said Bell White, a Houston mother of two. When her son Lennox, now 8, was in preschool, four teachers came and went during the school year. White quickly learned how important it was to stay engaged with the school. Since then, she has introduced herself to each of her son’s teachers at the ﬁrst opportunity, even if virtually. She tells them how she prefers to communicate — whether over email, phone or via a school app — and when she’s most reachable. Technology can make it easier for parents with multiple children or busy schedules to stay connected and for teachers to send quick messages or reminders. But with schools using multiple platforms, some parents say it helps to establish a preferred way to communicate. Early in the relationship, parents and teachers should focus on building trust, said J.B. Robinson, a clinical psychologist and dean of students at National University in San Diego. Positive interactions are like putting money into a relationship bank that can be drawn on when challenges arise, he said. For

parents, that can mean showing interest in the classroom and recognizing the effort that goes into creating a positive learning environment. Teachers can similarly begin with questions about the individual child, rather than immediately moving into classroom expectations or academic performance. Whatever the nature of your ﬁrst communication with a teacher, try not to worry that you’re bothering the teacher. Your child’s growth is the priority, and communicating with you is part of the teacher’s job.

Make the time count Parent-teacher conferences are designed to address students’ academic and social progress, identify concerns and discuss what comes next, but there may not be time to cover everything parents or teachers want to discuss. “The teacher and the parent need to go in with realistic expectations as to what can actually be accomplished in one parent-teacher conference and see that more as a starting point for a conversation,” said Robinson, the psychologist. The meetings can also be ripe for tension. Teachers may be having dozens of back-to-back confer-

ences, while parents may arrive with weeks’ worth of questions, all seemingly valid. Depending on the school and the child’s grade, some teachers follow a set agenda, with presentation slides, packets or lists of topics to cover. Emily Henderson, who teaches ﬁrst and second grade at BASIS Charter School in Flagstaff, Arizona, says her conversations are mostly individualized, with some focusing more on academics and others on social-emotional needs. “We use parent-teacher conferences to really talk about strengths, talk about weaknesses of students, and then come up with a plan together to address those concerns or address those needs,” Henderson said. Given time constraints, parents should come with just a few thoughtful questions, teachers say. But remember this is a starting point. It’s totally reasonable to set up another conference later in the year, even if your school doesn’t have one scheduled. Or you can continue the conversation online or over the phone.

What to do if your kid is present Some schools recommend that students join the conference, and in other cases, a parent may want to bring them along — or need to, if they lack child care. For younger students, teachers recommend asking in advance whether they should attend, if that is an option. If you do plan to bring the student or younger siblings, let the teacher know ahead of time so they can prepare for a more engaging meeting or set up a few distractions. If younger students are present, it is up to administrators and teachers to engage them and speak directly to them, said Kellie Hintze, head of school at BASIS Flagstaff. “When I have younger students at a meeting, we typically have a mini meeting with the student and the parent,” she said. “Then we can dive a little deeper or have those long, drawn-out conversations that a student wouldn’t want to be a part of or be able to focus

through.” Older students have more agency over their learning and are better positioned to contribute to discussions about their progress, challenges and possible next steps, experts say. “We’re doing students a disservice when we’re not teaching them how to advocate, when we are not teaching them those communication skills, to have the tough conversations when they need to be had,” said Kendrick Friendly, who is a high school assistant principal with Denver Public Schools. “This is a safe space for those conversations to happen.”

Questions to consider Parents don’t need to arrive with a long list of questions. A few thoughtful ones can help clarify what a teacher considers success, what they are seeing in the classroom, what support is available and how to stay connected throughout the year. Consider asking: 1. How do you prefer to communicate with parents, and how often should we check in? 2. What does success look like for my child this year? 3. How do you identify when a student is falling behind, and who should I speak with about getting additional support? 4. What are you noticing about my child that I might not see at home?

Leave with a plan Parent-teacher conferences do not resolve every concern, but they should identify next steps, whether those are regular checkins, strategies for improved behavior or additional resources, such as tutors, specialized instruction or extracurricular activities. Before leaving, make sure everyone knows what happens next, who is responsible for it and when you’ll check back in. Don’t be afraid to request another conference later in the year. Remember: Your child’s growth is the priority, and it will take everyone in the room to get there.

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THE GULF COAST

Sunken ships, artificial reefs could attract more tourists As programs grow, so do some concerns

In Okaloosa County, some local divers say visitors from California, the Northeast and the Midwest are already coming to explore the county’s wrecks. “It’s been huge,” said Savanna Christy, who owns a dive shop in Destin. Fogg said the program is also helping fishermen. Ten years ago, he said, most boats would pile around a few good offshore fishing sites. Now boats leave in different directions, heading for various artificial reefs. Advocates say the spread prevents overfishing and bolsters the local economy. One estimate by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggests every dollar spent on artificial reefs in Florida’s Panhandle creates about $138 — a return on investment of more than 13,000%.

BY MARTHA SANCHEZ Staff writer

Under the waves, miles from the coastline, Alex Fogg keeps finding opportunity. He and his colleagues have sunk thousands of tons of concrete and nearly two dozen old ships off the Florida Panhandle in recent years as part of a vast and growing network of artificial reefs. They are planning to send dozens more structures to the bottom of the Gulf. And they are betting their endeavor will lure thousands more visitors throughout the year and bring millions of dollars to the cities of Destin and Fort Walton Beach. “We’re going to become even more discovered,” said Fogg, who manages the county’s artificial reef program, which is now among the largest in the world. The region “has always been considered a summertime beach destination, but when we started to do the artificial reefs, we realized it was a year-round destination,” said Jennifer Adams, the county’s tourism director. “That’s been the biggest change for us — trying to develop these products that will help the local economy but really embrace more than just the beach.” The county has sunk more than $20 million worth of artificial reefs over the last five years, including many funded by grants and partnerships. Leaders and some local businesses say the underwater network is beginning to catch the attention of divers and anglers from Louisiana and around the country as more fish move in. The county is also in the midst of its largest and most controversial step yet: In the fall, it plans to sink a famed ocean liner called the SS United States. Fogg and his colleagues are confident the ship’s addition to their growing program will turn the Destin area into one of the world’s

‘Where does it stop?’

PROVIDED PHOTO By OKALOOSA BOARD OF COUNTy COMMISSIONERS

Okaloosa County sunk the Skippin Sue, a 118-foot offshore utility supply vessel, as an artificial reef south of Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Fla., in 2025. most popular spots to dive and ﬁsh. And their efforts are one sign of a surging trend around the region, where many local governments are sinking man-made reefs to build new ecosystems, reshape economies and bridge the needs of man and nature along the Gulf Coast. The idea has always attracted some skeptics. One prominent group racing to keep the SS United States above water is also questioning the safety of sunken ships and how many visitors they attract. “Sinking vessels is essentially dumping,” Carlos Camacho Jr., cofounder of the nonproﬁt SS United States Preservation Foundation, said. But research over the last several decades has convinced many scientists that the right kind of structures placed underwater can

attract marine life and help species’ populations grow. “We have built a sustainable fishery,” said Stewart Walter, who runs an Alabama company called Walter Marine that has sunk more than 60,000 artificial reefs since the 1980s. “The scientists that were a little on the fence about whether we were just attracting fish or building the producing of fish have come around to the production side now,” he added. “It’s going to mean a good future.”

‘It’s been huge’ Okaloosa County, home to Destin and Fort Walton, has been sinking reefs for decades. But leaders decided to start turning reefs into tourist attractions almost ten years ago, and now the program is moving faster than even Fogg predicted.

He expected to sink one or two large ships each year. In recent years, he said, the team has sunk 23. They livestream some reef deployments to thousands of viewers. And the seafloor off Destin’s coastline is now dotted with nearly 600 manmade structures, including several armored tanks, hundreds of concrete slabs that look like pyramids and a Sept. 11 memorial with pieces of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Hundreds more structures exist elsewhere in the Gulf. Texas wants to turn more old oil rigs into coral reefs. Louisiana has three-dimensional printed concrete reefs called “Cajun coral.” Alabama added another reef last month when it sunk a former riverboat casino. Two years ago, a Mississippi pest control company reefed a 70-footlong steel cockroach sculpture.

Still, the idea of sinking ships — the SS United States in particular — is attracting the attention of some preservationists who say they fear it will erase history and harm the environment. The county says it cleans ships of all toxins and follows rules set by the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Leaders near Destin are still studying where divers and fishermen are visiting from and how much the artificial reef program is impacting tourism. Adams, the tourism director, expects the SS United States will lead to a boom and said an economic impact study on the existing reef program will be ready in the next several months. Camacho, at the SS United States Preservation Foundation, said clean, concrete artificial reefs are generally “a great idea.” “The question is what are they going to sink next?” he said. “How far is this going to extend?” Fogg is used to questions about when enough is enough. But he said more reefs bring more fish. And plenty of open space still exists in the Gulf. So the answer, Fogg said, is “really never.”

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 15A

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Democrats set 2028 presidential calendar Schedule gives Black and Latino voters, union members early say

BY MIKE CATALINI and BILL BARROW Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Democrats seeking the party’s presidential nomination in 2028 will need to prove themselves early on in states where Black and Latino voters and union members are key supporters, under an election-year calendar approved Saturday. The primary lineup pushes Iowa from the traditional top spot and makes South Carolina the leadoff state, voting on Jan. 22, 2028, followed by Nevada on Feb. 1. New Hampshire, New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia round out the early states, throughout February, according to the plan endorsed by the Democratic National Committee at its meeting in Texas. DNC Chair Ken Martin said that to win the general election, “You have to be battle-tested in a way that you already have campaigned in front of and for the support of various communities throughout the country.” That is why the calendar designed by the party matters, he said in an interview. Some potential candidates in what is expected to be a large ﬁeld have visited early-voting states such as South Carolina. Party leaders have said the order give candidates the best shot at winning back the White House after Republican

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By JOEL ANGEL JUAREZ

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin speaks Thursday during a Labor Council meeting as part of the DNC Summer Meeting in Austin, Texas. President Donald Trump’s second term. “They have to show that they can go to the South and talk to Black voters and rural voters, as well as out west, talking ranching and mining issues, to a border state, to union members,” said party strategist Karen Finney, who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns. “Whoever survives will be battle-tested.” Former presidential candidate Howard Dean, a onetime Vermont governor, recalled his tenure as national party chair, when Democrats solidified Nevada and South Carolina as early states behind Iowa and New Hampshire. The latest change is even better, he said. “These states look more like the country,” as a whole, he said, “whereas Iowa and New Hampshire don’t.” Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, said bypassing her state in the early going would sideline important voter voices and give a political edge to Republicans, who are expected

to keep Iowa atop their calendar. As the first-in-the-South primary, South Carolina was more decisive than Iowa and New Hampshire for nominees Barack Obama in 2008, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. All three dominated among South Carolina’s large Black population, which can yield more than half the state’s Democratic primary electorate. With Nevada and New Mexico following, that will require candidates to court more Latino voters early in the process. Shifting from Iowa and New Hampshire does not mean little-known candidates cannot catch ﬁre, as Pete Buttigieg did in Iowa and New Hampshire in 2020, when he was a 37-yearold former mayor. They just will not be able to do it with an almost entirely White audience. There is disagreement over how Democrats’ split between progressives and mainstream liberals may or may not surface in the nominating calendar.

Taliban marks 5 years in power BY ABDUL QAHAR AFGHAN and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban rulers and other officials gathered at Afghanistan’s traditional Loya Jirga assembly hall on Saturday to celebrate the fifth anniversary of their return to power, touting what they described as restored stability and an end to decades of conflict. A top United Nations official, however, warned of a grave human rights crisis in Afghanistan, where girls over age 12 are barred from attending school. The Taliban seized power on Aug. 15, 2021, as the U.S. and other NATO troops withdrew following a costly two-decade war. The U.S. withdrawal led to chaos at Kabul airport as crowds of people tried to flee the country in desperation. Soon after taking power, the Taliban administration imposed a ban on girls’ education beyond the sixth grade and later banned

AFGHANISTAN

ment’s deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Fitrat, said during the ceremony. higher education for womAbdul Salam Hanafi, the en, despite having pledged deputy prime minister in before the takeover that charge of administrative afwomen would be allowed fairs, said the Taliban rule access to education, em- ended an era of external ployment and public par- interventions and internal strife in Afghanistan “over ticipation. Women have also been the past half-century,” rebanned from public spaces storing security. such as gyms and parks, There were no women from taking part in sports present at the ceremony. and traveling to distant locations without a male guard- U.N. official’s warning ian. In a video message, At the Loya Jirga, high- Richard Bennett, the U.N. ranking ofﬁcials were joined special rapporteur on the by some foreign representa- human rights situation in tives and thousands of ordi- Afghanistan, said the counnary citizens for speeches try was undergoing a deep marking what they said was human rights crisis. Afghanistan’s liberation “While the era of war has from American forces. ended, it’s questionable “We pray to Almighty whether there’s real peace, God to forever protect our and the human rights situhomeland from occupa- ation has steadily deteriotion, aggression, wars, and rated, most dramatically insecurity, and to enable for women and girls,” Benour people to enjoy peace, nett said. “My mandate has tranquillity, and prosper- concluded that this sysity under the auspices of tem amounts to the crime the Sharia-based govern- against humanity of gender ment,” the Taliban govern- persecution.”

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DEATHS continued from at a later date. Born Ann Perkins Terrell at Columbia, Mississippi on April 11, 1938, the daughter of Dr. Vernon LaGrange Terrell III and the former Marianne Perkins, she was nicknamed Perk in childhood. After graduating from the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C., she graduated from Newcomb College in New Orleans where she majored in French, was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and was a fourth generation Tulane graduate. She spent her junior year in Paris at the Sorbonne and was presented by the Debutante Club of Mississippi. She married Richard Peel Wolfe August 20, 1960 and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts while he completed his studies at the Harvard Law School. In 1962 Mr. and Mrs. Wolfe moved to New Orleans where he practiced corporate law for over fifty years. Trained to play the flute, Mrs. Wolfe had a lifelong interest in introducing children to classical music, volunteering with the New Orleans Philharmonic Symphony and serving as the citywide coordinator of the orchestra's Kinderkonzerts program. She and her husband were patrons of the New Orleans Opera, where he also served as a board member. They made trips to New York, London, Munich and Venice to attend theatre and opera performances. She also accompanied her husband to quinquennial reunions at Princeton which brought together a number of friends from around the country. After moving to New Orleans Mrs. Wolfe established a real estate listing service which gathered and compiled information for uptown real estate

agents for several years. She was a member of Barbara's Book Club, the Maturing Assets investment club, the Maple Area Residents association, Le Petit Salon, the Mayflower Society, the Daughters of the Cincinnati and had served as a director of the Newcomb College Alumnae Association. She and her husband were members of the New Orleans Country Club, the New Orleans Lawn Tennis Club, various carnival organizations and St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Wolfe was a highly accomplished seamstress. A master of garment construction, smocking, knitting, monogramming, embroidery and needlepoint, she created a large body of expertly sewn and stitched clothing and costumes for her daughters, granddaughters, and friends. Upon her husband's retirement in 2019, the couple moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to be closer to family. She is survived by her daughters Susan Huppman (Reed) of Baltimore, Maryland; Emily Leigh (Jack) of Tuscaloosa, Alabama; grandchildren Alexandra Terrell Leigh, Niccolo Wolfe Leigh, Olivia Huppman DePass (Will) and Hugh Houghton Wolfe Huppman; and one greatgrandchild. She is also survived by her sister Ellen Terrell Gaines (Allen) of Atlanta, Georgia. The family suggests memorials be directed to Hospice of West Alabama, 3851 Loop Rd., Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35404.

Young, Clare Marlowe

Clare Young peacefully transitioned to a better place on Tuesday, July 7, 2026. Born on September 16, 1946, to Earl Burt Marlowe, Sr. and Frances Labit Marlowe. Clare is survived by two sons, Kenneth Smira (Stacy) and Edward Smira. Also survived by a brother, Earl Burt Marlowe, Jr. (Kay); a nephew, Jonathan Marlowe (Brandi); two nieces, Kasey Chappelle (Ben), and Elizabeth Serpas; and seven great nephews and nieces. Clare was a strong woman with many talents. A lover of all things Irish, she never met a stranger and was loved by many. Services will be held at Mothe Funeral Home, 1300 Vallette St. Algiers, LA, on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at 2:00 PM with visitation from 12:00 to 2:00. Donations in her name may be made to Autism Science Foundation by visiting: www.autismscience foundation.org

Annual Acadian memberships keep emergency personnel ready to respond when it matters most

By Amanda McElfresh, amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This article is brought to you by Acadian. When Acadian Ambulance began serving South Louisiana communities in 1971, its ﬂeet consisted of just two ambulances. But, the young company had something else its founders believed would be critical to its future: the support of the communities it served. During Acadian’s early days, cofounders Richard Zuschlag, Roland Dugas, and Richard Sturlese frequently heard how essential their service had become. Staffed largely by military veterans, the private ambulance company quickly established itself as a vital healthcare provider and a crucial lifesaver for the community. That made it easy for people to support a subscription-based membership model to support the company’s services, based on a similar program Zuschlag knew about from his home state of Pennsylvania. Acadian’s ﬁrst membership drive enrolled 8,400 members. As the company marks its 55th anniversary on September 1, 2026, the membership program continues today, supporting a mission that extends beyond responding to emergency calls. Membership funds help the company invest in equipment and training while supporting community services such as free ambulance standbys at high school football games, fairs and festivals. Today, there are approximately 13,000 Acadian members across its service area. Enrollment is now underway for the 2026-27 membership year, which runs Sept. 1, 2026, through Aug. 31, 2027. Individuals can renew or sign up for a membership online at acadian. com/membership or by calling 1-800-256JOIN (5646). The annual membership drive concludes on September 11, 2026. In a 2024 podcast interview with Dr. Craig Greene, Zuschlag recalled how Acadian quickly expanded and responded to local needs – especially in small rural communities where health care can be many miles away. Today, thanks in large part to membership support, Acadian strategically positions ambulance stations and uses onboard computers, GPS mapping and advanced tracking technology to help its Communication Center identify and dispatch the nearest appropriate ambulance.

For Acadian members, the direct benefits are numerous: • A 30 percent discount on billed ambulance charges • A VIP Phone Line with exclusive access to specialized customer service and billing assistance • Enrollment in a savings network that allows members to save thousands on discounted products and services from local and national businesses • Free doorbell camera with the purchase of a monitored security system through Acadian Total Security • Save 10 percent on monthly monitoring rates of Acadian On Call medical alert systems Acadian’s membership program also helps the company continue to invest in the most advanced equipment and training. Every ambulance carries state-of-the-art life-saving technology, and every medic is rigorously trained in the latest procedures. Acadian’s fleet includes more than 750 ambulances, along with helicopters and fixed wing aircraft that are ready to respond in the most dire circumstances. It is work that hasn’t gone unnoticed – Acadian Ambulance has earned the gold standard and is nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Ambulance Services, and Acadian Air Med is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems. Because of the membership program, this unsurpassed level of service is available 24/7 to thousands of people. Whether its crews are responding to a personal medical emergency, standing ready to help young athletes at high school games or providing support at one-ofa-kind community festivals, Acadian is there when and where people need it. Through the Membership Program, Louisianans can continue to support the equipment, training and services that keep Acadian ready to respond, wherever the call comes from. Sign up or renew your Acadian membership for 2026-27 online at acadian.com/membership or by calling 1-800-256-JOIN (5646).

16A ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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Quarter police program getting more drones Funding secured to expand emergency response

providing $500,000 to purchase an additional three emergency-response drones for the New Orleans Police Department, allowing the program to expand more quickly than previously known. The funding supplements BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE $250,000 allocated by the French Staff writer Quarter Management District in The New Orleans Police & Jus- March for a single remote-piloted tice Foundation, a police booster police drone and docking station organization, has committed to that can respond to 911 calls in the

Mother of slain comedian reflects on journey

historic neighborhood. Foundation spokesperson Matthew Stone said the funding will support deployment of three drones, mostly in and around the French Quarter. But he said they could also be used in other parts of the city and that the foundation is seeking more donors. The technology has the potential to serve “as a force multiplier” given the NOPD’s stafﬁng issues,

according to Michael Harrison, the city’s deputy mayor for public safety, and will let commanders deploy officers and other publicsafety officials more efficiently. “NOPD could dispatch drones to quickly assess a situation,” Harrison said in a prepared statement Friday, “allowing officers to receive information more quickly, potentially saving valuable time and allowing police resources to

be focused where they are most needed.” New Orleans police were told about the additional money in January after the FQMD declined to provide their full request for $740,000, foundation leaders said. The donation wasn’t publicly announced, but it represents a boon for department leaders who’ve

ä See DRONES, page 2B

‘It’s going to be building blocks’

After ‘Boogie B’ was shot, ‘a village sprung up around me’ BY MATT BRUCE Staff writer

Nearly four years after her son was killed in New Orleans, the city he loved, Sherilyn Price can’t muster the strength to watch videos of him. “Hearing his voice, seeing him move, it’s too much for me,” she said. “It just breaks me down.” Brandon “Boogie B” Montrell, a New Orleans-born comic home for the holidays in 2022, was slain outside the Rouses Market in the Warehouse District on a Friday afternoon two days before Christmas as he sat in a car. His killing at age 43 marked a watershed tragedy as New Orleans fought to quell raging bloodshed during the pandemic. It stood as an exclamation point to a deadly year that left New Orleans as the nation’s murder capital. “This boy was too large to be cut down like that by some street trash that didn’t nobody care to raise,” Price said. “It didn’t make any sense. He was in the middle of so many things when this happened.” Quick to speak out, Price hasn’t stopped advocating since. Her voice managed to Price stir some powerful figures to her side as she took aim at those responsible for the killing. Price, 66, said her son’s shooting destroyed her belief in the system and shook her faith in God. It filled her with a “rage” that drove her advocacy for juvenile justice reform. She testified twice at the State Capitol about the devastation of gun violence. “It’s been an amazing journey,” she said. “There are people that wrapped their arms around me

STAFF PHOTOS By SOPHIA GERMER

New Orleans Saints fans cross Poydras Street before the first preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Saints fans come out for first preseason game against Jaguars BY WILLIE SWETT Staff writer

Hailey Moak, 40, stood in the shade outside Walk On’s Bar and Bistreaux on Poydras Street with a nearly empty 24-ounce cup of Twisted Tea and a cigarette, nodding toward the Superdome up the street. “We want to see what they are going to do,” she said hours before game time. “That’s what today is all about.” Moak said they’d already “won big.” Her sister with the season pass was out of town, so “the tickets were free” as the Saints 2026 preseason ofﬁcially Cooper McKee, 9, of Mississippi, wears a helmet in Champions started on Saturday afternoon Square before the first preseason game Saturday against the at home against the JacksonJacksonville Jaguars at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. ville Jaguars. “Stay hydrated, 115 today folks,” a Superdome employee near Champions Square as hard index over 100, prompting an bellowed through a bullhorn core Saints fans endured a heat extreme heat advisory.

Moak and others around the stadium were especially excited about the team’s prospects behind second-year Saints quarterback Tyler Shough. “I love Shough, I love him,” said Tyrone Snyder, 69, who had pulled a dolly from his Toyota Sequoia on Poydras Street and placed a large Igloo ice chest on it. Snyder has been selling cold drinks and water outside Saints games for five years. “Preseason games determine the regular season,” he insisted. The baking heat drew some fans toward Snyder’s and other vendors’ businesses. “I’m not gonna lie, I gotta pace myself,” said one young guy in a Saints jersey with a popular new name on the back:

ä See SAINTS, page 2B

ä See BOOGIE B, page 2B

Jefferson Parish school system tackling top education issues 45,000 students returning to classrooms BY ELYSE CARMOSINO Staff writer

As nearly 45,000 Jefferson Parish students return to their classrooms, the state’s largest school system is heading into a year marked by a competitive School Board election, persistent transportation problems, pressure to raise teacher pay and new accountability

requirements for English learners. Jefferson Parish maintained its B rating in 2025 — the same grade it earned the previous year — but overall scores on this year’s LEAP tests were ﬂat. This school year will determine whether the district can build on the advancements it has made. “This is a new year,” Superintendent James Gray said this week, “ﬁlled with new opportunities.”

ferson Parish School Board as 13 people vie for nine seats in the board’s Nov. 3 election. One particularly contentious race is likely to be in Metairie’s District 6, where incumbent Michael Pedalino, a business performance adviser, is being challenged by former Entergy regional manager Al Galindo, who has campaigned heavily since announcing his candidacy in February. Pedalino, a vocal advocate School board elections for raising teacher pay, reIt will be a competitive ceived endorsement from campaign season for the Jef- Gov. Jeff Landry earlier

this month, while newcomer Galindo is seeking endorsements from local groups. He will need to convince voters that his business prowess makes him a viable candidate, despite his lack of political experience. District 9 will also be a race to watch as former banker Kevin Delahoussaye, who was elected by the board to replace Steven Guitterrez after his resignation in May, defends his seat against former educator John Cunningham. The Jefferson Federation of Teachers, the local teach-

ers union, did not respond to a request for comment. District 8 representative Chad Nugent, who is running unopposed, said that while teacher pay and school closures are some of the most controversial issues the new board will have to contend with, candidates will likely focus on issues more speciﬁc to their districts while campaigning. He said he expects to see candidates champion expanding career education, revising discipline policies and improving special education. Candidates “should focus

on the things they’re passionate about,” he said, but ultimately, “It really does start and end with what’s best for kids.”

Busing issues For years, Jefferson Parish parents have lodged complaints about late or missing school buses. In June, the district unveiled a new $6.4 million transportation complex that ofﬁcials said will speed up vehicle repairs, putting buses back in service more

ä See SCHOOL, page 2B

2B ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

DRONES

Continued from page 1B said it will help them respond more quickly to dangerous incidents. They are hoping to launch the first French Quarter drone in the coming months and want to expand what’s known as the Drone as First Responder Program in a fashion similar to the recent deployment in Jefferson Parish. To ACLU Louisiana and Eye on Surveillance, advocacy groups that have worked to halt the program and put guardrails around it in recent months, the expanded funding adds to concerns that the program will operate without enough public scrutiny. “They have to be held accountable,” said Sarah Whittington, advocacy director of the ACLU of Louisiana. Meanwhile, public safety groups like the Metropolitan Crime Commission and the NOLA Coalition, an advocacy group focused on crime and quality-of-life issues, have said the drone technology, deployed properly, can help offset NOPD staffing shortages. “When the city is struggling to hire more officers and find funding for more officers … you don’t pay overtime to drones,” said Rafael

BOOGIE B

Continued from page 1B that I did not expect. All across party lines.” One was Gov. Jeff Landry, who met with Price while he served as attorney general. Landry cited Boogie’s killing among others as he pushed two crime bills during a special session in his ﬁrst weeks as governor in early 2024. Another was Orleans Parish Sheriff Michelle Woodfork, who helped solve the case while working for the District Attorney’s Ofﬁce.

‘I went slap off’ A Florida native who moved to New Orleans at age 13, Price quickly fell in love with her adopted city. She also saw fractures in local leadership. Her frustrations came to a head when Boogie was slain. Boogie, her second-oldest, was not the ﬁrst child she had to bury. His younger sister died of sudden infant death syndrome, and his older brother died by suicide in 2010, she said. Boogie’s cousin, Christian Islom, died in his arms after being shot inside a Treme bar in 2002. Price said no one was arrested. She blamed the culture of violence on decades of neglect for the city’s youth. She lashed out at NOPD for failing to notify her about her son’s killing; a reporter broke it to her over the phone. Price criticized the District Attorney’s Ofﬁce and City Hall and said other public agencies did not prioritize her as a crime victim.

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Goyeneche, president of the New Orleans Metropolitan Crime Commission. “At some point the police department is not going to be able to do more with less.”

Expanded funding New Orleans police publicly proposed the program in January and sought $740,000 from the FQMD to purchase up to four drones. It came after Jefferson Parish purchased a ﬂeet of 23 ﬁrst responder drones last year that have been deployed to emergencies, and as part of a broader push in other parts of the U.S. Cities in New York, Arizona, California and several other states have incorporated drones during emergencies, using them to evaluate whether 911 calls are legitimate before dedicating staffing, and giving officers information to enter an emergency situation safely. After FQMD board members decided to fund the purchase of one drone at a meeting in early March, 8th District Capt. Samuel Palumbo said that other partners would instead support further expansion. At that point, the foundation’s leaders had made a verbal commitment that they would raise $500,000 to cover five years of costs for four drones, said Melanie Talia, CEO of the Police & Justice

“I had been watching the city devolve for 40 years,” she said. “It was always a sore spot for me. But when it came to my doorstep like that, I couldn’t handle it. I went slap off.” She got the attention of Landry and supported a slate of crime bills that passed in 2024. Landry would sign 20 measures aimed at stiffening criminal penalties. “I got to know Brandon’s mother, Ms. Sherilyn Price, and heard firsthand about the pain and frustration her family faced in seeking justice,” Landry said last week in a statement. “That is why, just one month after taking office, I worked with the Legislature to pass Truth in Sentencing. We ended a system that allowed criminals to get back on the streets too soon and put accountability back where it belongs.” The legislation abolished goodtime credits for most offenses and requires adult prisoners in state lockups to serve at least 85% of their sentence before consideration for early release. Critics of the rollbacks point out that the state’s prison population has risen by 2,000 inmates since the law took effect. State corrections officials estimate they need an additional $82 million in annual state funding. Price insists the measures were necessary to rein in crime. During a ceremony in New Orleans for a bill that increased public access to juvenile court records, Landry turned and handed the pen to Price, who keeps it on a mantle in her Slidell home. “I am not a Republican, so I don’t support him in most ways,” Price

Foundation in an interview Thursday. In a letter to NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick in late March, Talia wrote that the foundation was prepared to deposit an initial $95,900 donation and that the city attorney would need to draft a formal agreement. “I remember saying ‘Why didn’t you say us’?” said Talia of Palumbo’s comments about financial support. “We had already committed to these funds.” That agreement “is still a work in progress,” Talia said, but the foundation sent a check to the city from the first donation in March “so they could move forward.” The City Council voted 4-3 in April to approve the FQMD funding for the program. Mayor Helena Moreno said in an April interview with local data analyst Jeff Asher that in addition to launching first-responder drones in the French Quarter, the city is “expanding that over to the 7th District and New Orleans East.” “We’re not just deploying drones just to go watch; it’s about specific response to an ongoing already dangerous situation,” Moreno said. She said she would get “as much information as possible from our NOPD about the very specific use of the technology” to make a “decision on whether it aligns with my views on what is really necessary

as far as crime fighting in New Or- her about the motivations of the funders. leans.” “This adds even more concern ‘What are you going to do?’ to this program and to the use of As NOPD has neared launch, police drones in the city,” she said. In a statement on Tuesday, an advocates have raised alarms over the program and changes NOPD spokesperson said that the to the department’s drone policy. department is “committed to enThe Drone as First Responder suring our officers have the tools Program will allow 8th District they need while maintaining clear officers to pilot the drones to the policies, responsible deployment site of emergencies and support practices, and open communicafirst responders. Police have said tion with the residents we serve.” they will not be used for broader NOPD officials said in their surveillance. Tuesday statement that they are But in June, a revision to the de- “awaiting procurement of necespartment’s 2024 policy was made sary equipment” to launch the propublic that said drones could be gram but didn’t detail the number equipped with weapons. That proof drones it had yet purchased. For residents and business vision was quickly removed after public criticism, and the depart- owners, that means it’s still ment said it was a “draft policy and unclear when the drones may begin responding to emergencies had not been officially adopted.” Last week, the City Council vot- and how broadly they’ll be used. ed unanimously for an ordinance It has also left some wondering if requiring quarterly reports to the the technology will balance public safety against the potential for council on drone flights. Still, critics say the rules don’t go misuse. “On the one hand, it sounds invafar enough, and have also blasted a July 1 change that removed a re- sive,” said Mona Lisa Savoy, presiquired quarterly review of drone dent of the 7th Ward neighborhood use by the NOPD’s Professional association. “But on the other Standards and Accountability Bu- hand, when there are not enough cops, what are you going to do?” reau. In an interview Thursday, Edith Romero, an organizer with Eye on Email Sophie Kasakove at Surveillance, said the additional sophie.kasakove@theadvocate. money raised more issues for com.

said of the governor. “But I have to say he was very kind to me during this process. He gave me a platform, which was important to me because I was not conﬁdent in the judicial system in New Orleans.”

He spoke with the rhythmic cadence distinct to Crescent City natives and infused the Uptown’s signature parlance into his stand-up performances across the country. Loved ones say Boogie was on the cusp of stardom after years of honing his skills on stages, using his wit to build an army of about 500,000 followers on TikTok and Instagram. Woodfork was a fan of his “New Orleans Hood History” series, videos where he revealed little-known nuggets of local lore. Boogie B was a nickname spawned from Montrell’s years dancing for New Orleans bounce rap pioneer “Josephine Johnny” Watson. Boogie later teamed up with Hotboy Ronald and joined a rap group called the Josephine Young Guns, performing with other bounce artists like Big Freedia. He left New Orleans days before Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to move to Washington, D.C., with a girlfriend. In the nation’s capital, he fell in love with comedy after visiting an open mic with a cousin. He befriended a fellow comic, Trey Elliot, and they navigated D.C’s stand-up circuit together. Inspired by Martin Lawrence and Will Smith’s film franchise, they dubbed themselves the “Bad Boys” of comedy and moved to Los Angeles in 2009. “We were like a dynamic duo,” Elliot recalled. “I won’t lie, comedy doesn’t feel the same as it felt when he was here. It still feels great, but it’s like everything that I accomplish is sometimes bittersweet because he’s not here.” When he came back to New Orleans, Boogie B often performed at

A social media match Woodfork was another key player in Price’s pursuit of justice. District Attorney Jason Williams recruited Woodfork in 2024 to lead his Open Source Intelligence task force after she left the NOPD after serving as interim superintendent. Woodfork reignited the stalled homicide investigation and helped identify the second shooter, Charles Cannon. Rouses cameras captured the shooting. The task force enlisted contractor Bancroft Global, a cybersecurity and AI ﬁrm. Williams said Bancroft matched a pair of sneakers and one suspect’s clothing in the video to outfits they sported in social media photos, leading investigators to Cannon. “That case actually laid some of the foundation for a lot of the open-source intelligence and digital forensic tools that we use to ﬁnd all of the perpetrators of a crime,” Williams said. Price recalled a text message from Woodfork in September 2024, saying they’d identified Cannon, brought her to tears. “The city cried with me,” Price said. “A village sprung up around me because of him (Boogie). They surrounded me and embraced me. People came out of nowhere.”

The birth of Boogie B Boogie B was a New Orleans comic through and through.

the Den, a backroom comedy club adjoining the Howlin’ Wolf in the Warehouse District. Matt Owens, a locally based comedian, said he spoke to Boogie minutes before he was killed, about stopping by the Den to talk about his upcoming shows. “It was one of those, I believe, very divine friendships,” Owens said. “He had such a kind, generous spirit, and he always supported everybody.”

‘Thousands of me’ Price acknowledges the “privilege” her son’s fame afforded her. “I always say, ‘You’re looking at me. But there are thousands of me,’ ” she said. “You can’t see them because their son was not famous.” Boogie’s hopes of stardom dissolved in a haze of gun smoke Dec. 23, 2022, when 20-year-old Jabril Cowart began spraying bullets at Cannon amid a rush of shoppers at the Baronne Street supermarket. Authorities believe a bullet Cannon ﬁred in return struck Boogie. Cowart, who had a lengthy juvenile record, pleaded guilty to manslaughter this month and stands to receive 25 years in prison at a sentencing scheduled for Sept. 3. Cannon also pleaded guilty, receiving 15 years. Price said she agreed to both plea offers. Now she’s looking ahead, hoping to arrange a comedy festival along Decatur Street in her son’s name. “I don’t want the city to ever forget him,” she said. “He was born here and died in this city.” Email Matt Bruce at matt. bruce@theadvocate.com.

food trucks while vendors hawked black and gold necklaces, and of course Drew Brees gear. The quarterback who led the Saints to win the 2010 Super Bowl was inducted Aug. 8 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he was top of mind for many fans outside the gates on Saturday. EJ Fleetwood, 67, a ﬁrsttime season ticket holder from Chalmette, arrived 30

minutes before the Champions Square gates opened in a Garrett Hartley jersey. He promised he’ll be “breaking out Drew Brees in the regular season.” “He’s got his superstitions,” April Fleetwood, 52, a cafeteria manager at Chalmette High School, said of her husband. And a fresh helping of hope for the upcoming season. “I think it’s going to be

very good. It’s going to be building blocks, you can see it. You know, it might not be this year, but it’s not that far away,” EJ Fleetwood said of the team this year. Though plenty of fans came out Saturday, some traditions had to wait until the regular season. Eugene “Pop” Maurice and Donnatte Maurice usually leave their home in Violet around 5 a.m. to get

to “under the bridge,” as they call their tailgate spot beneath the highway overpass at Claiborne and Poydras. They’ve been posting up there for the last 15 to 20 years. But the tailgate, which normally features red beans and rice, ribs, a large TV, a DJ, a porta-potty, and a lot of good feelings, won’t start until regular season. “A lot of people aren’t going to come”

uted the shortage to drivers’ low salaries, which hover around $35,000. To entice Continued from page 1B more drivers to the district, Jenkins said in May that quickly. This school year Jefferson Parish is considwill make clear how much ering paying drivers to get the complex helps improve their commercial licenses — the situation, especially amid which cost around $4,000 — ongoing driver shortages. if they agree to work for the Chief Operations Officer district for a certain number Patrick Jenkins has attrib- of years. It’s unclear how far

along those discussions are. Some parents and students are concerned that busing problems will continue into the new year. “Parents don’t always have the resources to take or pay for their children to go to school,” West Jefferson High School student Amy Agramonte Romero told the board this month. “This administration needs to be proactive with solutions.”

tax millage that gave teachers a $3,300 pay boost. Since then, the district has provided a handful of incremental raises, but teachers and support staff say the pay bumps have failed to keep up with inflation or improve morale. Some board members say the best bet for raising pay is to pass another millage. While such a measure won’t be on the upcoming November ballot, it’s possible the district could put it to a vote in 2027. Other board members, including newcomer Delahoussaye, have pushed to trim other areas of the budget to fund permanent raises. While state-mandated pay stipends have helped in the short-term, they aren’t a substitute for permanent pay hikes, local union president Sandra Hauer said at an August board meeting. As educators take on heavier workloads due to ongoing staffing shortages, she said, increasing compensation is necessary to fill empty positions. “Words of appreciation are

welcome,” Hauer said. “But expected on LEAP and the state’s English Language salaries show priorities.” Proficiency Test. Her goal English learners this year is to figure out As the district with the ways to help them improve, largest population of Eng- noting that there’s a wide lish learners in the state, range of reasons why an EL Jefferson Parish will face student stops advancing. They might need help imincreased pressure this year to help those students proving their test-taking succeed as Louisiana rolls skills or getting motivated, out a revamped school ac- she explained. She added countability system that that it’s crucial for EL teachplaces heavier emphasis on ers to build strong relationEL students’ progress. ships with their students so Just 33% of the district’s they understand what each EL students improved on the child needs. 2026 state LEAP tests over “I have to, student by stuthe previous year, the same dent, figure out what the percentage as statewide. block is,” Helire said. The district will also continue to grapple with the fallout of federal immigraLOTTERY tion policies, which led to FRIDAY, AUG. 14, 2026 drops in attendance when immigration agents conPICK 3: 8-4-0 ducted sweeps in the region PICK 4: 2-9-1-5 late last year and could rePICK 5: 9-4-2-2-0 sult in lower attendance this MEGA MILLIONS: coming year as well. 3-23-27-46-60 Renée Helire, an EL teacher at Bunche-Washington MEGA BALL: 11 STEM School, said some Unofficial notification, of her students have not keep your tickets. progressed as quickly as

Continued from page 1B rookie wide receiver Jordyn Tyson. The fan just lost to a friend in a race to chug the Bud Lights they’d bought on Poydras. Heavy trafﬁc surrounded the stadium as the sound of bucket drums and the smell of smoke rose from

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Teacher pay raises The push for higher teacher pay will continue this school year. Jefferson Parish teachers point out that their starting salary of $51,000 is much lower than nearby districts, such as St. Charles and Plaquemines parishes, where teacher salaries start at $63,000. The lower pay makes it harder for Jefferson Parish to recruit and retain quality staff, advocates argue. The last time educators received a substantial raise was in 2019, when parish voters approved a property

for preseason, explained Pop Maurice. For now, they don’t have to cook or host. Instead, the couple managed to go inside and watch the game in the Caesars Superdome with friends and family. They still got their parking spot under the overpass. Email Willie Swett at willie.swett@theadvocate. com.

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New Orleans Area Deaths Anderson, Larry Brodtmann, Betty Cool, John Ducos, Edward Edwards, Mary Ermon, Bonnie George, Maria Giglio, John Griffin, Rosalie Hawkins, William Joseph, Dexter Klein, Karay Marley, Lawrence Marsh, Steve Mengel, William Nelson, Paul Parnell, Edsel Robin Jr., John Roussel, Mona Schoenberger, Kevin Shallenberger, Sharon Snyder, Kristen Wheaton Morse, Mary Wolfe, Ann Young, Clare

Obituaries Anderson, Larry Keith

course, Larry never passed up the opportunity for a good nap—something he considered a perfectly worthwhile way to spend an afternoon! Whether sharing a laugh, offering advice, or simply enjoying time together, his greatest joy came from being surrounded by his family, and his love for them was evident in everything he did. Larry will be remembered for his quiet strength, kind heart, generous spirit, and the genuine care he showed to everyone he met. His legacy lives on through the many lives he touched, both personally and professionally, and through the love, memories, and connections he created with his family and friends. Larry is survived by his beloved wife, Courtney Anderson; his loving children, Amanda Masley (Jerred), Rachel Robert (Ryne), Jeffery Anderson (Marisa), Clayton Merwin, and Caroline Merwin; his mother, Janice Conrad Anderson; his sister, Kerry Anderson; his brothers, Kevin Anderson and Rory Anderson; his mother-inlaw, Teresa Guzzetta; his father-in-law, John Campbell (Margaret); extended family members, dear friends, and colleagues who will forever cherish his memory. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 22, 2026, for family, friends, colleagues, and anyone who would like to pay their respects and honor Larry's life; details will be shared privately. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to an organization that holds special meaning to you, in Larry's memory. Though Larry's presence will be deeply missed, his memory will continue to live on in the hearts of all who knew and loved him. His compassion, laughter, and enduring love for his family will never be forgotten.

It is with profound sadness that we announce that Larry Keith Anderson passed away on July 30, 2026, at the age of 61, following a battle with cancer. Larry was born on August 20, 1964, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to Janice Conrad Anderson and the late Larry Keith Anderson, Sr. Larry was proud of his career as a Respiratory Therapist, spending more than 37 years caring for others and supporting the people he worked with; his clinical expertise, professionalism, and calm approach earned the admiration of everyone fortunate enough to work alongside him. He was always willing to lend a helping hand, support a coworker, or share his knowledge and experience with those around him. He was a mentor to many, often without even realizing it, and was someone others could always count on. His willingness to put others before himself was simply part of who he was, both at work and in his personal life. Larry was known for his compassion, dedication, and deep love for his family and friends. Outside of his career, he enjoyed the simple things that brought him happiness. He loved attending concerts, listening to music, spending time in his garden, and especially valued time with his children. And, of

Brodtmann, Betty Schayot

is survived by her children, Noel Brodtmann, Eric Brodtmann (Melissa), Kurt Brodtmann, and Laura Brodtmann Sagebiel (Faron); her sister, Jean Mora (Francis); and her grandchildren, Jared Brodtmann and Sophie Brodtmann. She is also survived by a large extended family of cousins, nieces and nephews, and their children. Her New Orleans roots, and especially her network of cousins, were at the center of her life. The family extends special thanks to Betty's cousin, Karen Polk, who was always there for her, whether it was tagging along on trips to visit her kids or driving her to countless appointments when she could no longer do it on her own. Visitation will be held Tuesday, August 18, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. until noon at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home, 5100 Pontchartrain Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70124. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at noon in the chapel, with interment to follow in Lake Lawn Park. Father Chris DeLerno will officiate. To view and sign the online guest book, please visit LakeLawnMetairie.com

Cool, John Robert

John Robert Cool, age 92, of Slidell, LA, passed away on Tuesday, August 11, 2026. A native of Calumet City, Illinois, and a resident of Slidell since 1963. He proudly worked in the Aerospace Industry, to include work on the space shuttle.

Betty Schayot Brodtmann, 82, of New Orleans, died on August 6, 2026. She was born in New Orleans on February 22, 1944, to Rosalie Chimento Schayot and Francis Albert Schayot. Betty was a graduate of Dominican High School, Class of 1962. She earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education from the University of New Orleans and later returned to UNO to earn her master's degree in Library Science. She spent her career as a schoolteacher and librarian, which surprised no one who knew how much she loved children and books. A lifelong Catholic, Betty was happiest with a full house. She loved cooking for family parties, making sure every holiday was properly celebrated, and taking cousin trips that were as much about the company as the destination. She had a soft spot for her pets and a fierce devotion to her family and friends, most of whom had been part of her life for decades. Betty was preceded in death by her husband of 55 years, Noel V. Brodtmann Jr., and by her parents. She

Relatives and friends of the family are invited to attend a Celebration of Life at HONAKER FUNERAL HOME, 1751 Gause Blvd. West, Slidell, LA. on Saturday, August 22, 2026, from 10:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to NAMI of Louisiana www.namilouisiana.org or by mail to P.O. Box 1509 Baton Rouge, LA. 708211509 Please visit www.honak erforestlawn.com to sign guestbook.

Ducos, Edward David

While most families have to rely on comic books or Marvel movies to see heroes, Eddie's family has witnessed a man

whose sole purpose in life was the pursuit of justice. He never desired to be a CEO, become a mayor, or even be elevated to Captain of the watch. He simply wanted to catch bad guys and serve his community as an example to follow. For 46 years, Edward Ducos did just that. He was a humble civil servant who served justice and provided a shield to all who were unable to defend themselves. His surviving family would like to believe if Eddie could have a last message it would be this: "My watch continues and everything is Dynamite, Baby!" Edward is survived by his beloved wife, Jeannie Ducos; his loving children, Jarrod and Brent Ducos; and his grandson, Liam Ducos.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 3B

member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. She remained an active and faithful member of St. James Catholic Church. Relatives and friends of the family, along with the priests and parishioners of St. James Catholic Church, are invited to attend a Mass of Christian Burial at St. James Catholic Church, 6613 LA-Highway 18, St. James, Louisiana 70086, on Saturday, August 22, 2026. Visitation will begin at 9:30 am., Recitation of the Rosary at 11:00am; with the Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 12:30pm. Rev. Michael O'Rourke will be the celebrant. Arrangements are entrusted to D.W. Rhodes Funeral Home, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125. Please visit www.rhodesfuneral.com to sign the online guestbook and share memories and condolences with the family.

St. Dominic Parish, both the church and the school, and cherished her place in that community. Later in life, she found new joy working in the after-school program at St. Dominic, a fitting continuation of a life spent looking after others. Bonnie's warmth and generosity touched everyone around her, and she will be deeply missed by all who were lucky enough to be part of her life. A visitation will be held at St. Dominic Church, 775 Harrison Ave, on Friday, August 21, beginning at 11:30 a.m., followed by a Mass at 1:00 p.m. Burial will follow at Greenwood Cemetery. Arrangements by Jacob Schoen & Son. The family invites you to share thoughts, fond memories and condolences online at schoenfh.com.

George, Maria Sly

Edwards, Mary Ann Braud Ermon, Bonnie Bart

Mary Ann Braud Edwards, a native of St. James Parish, has been a trailblazer throughout her life. She was a member of the first graduating class of Magnolia High School in 1953 and earned a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Southern University & A&M College in 1957. She later earned a Master's in Education, plus 30 from Nicholls State University and Southeastern University, and Reading Specialist Certification from Nicholls State University. Mrs. Edwards dedicated 32 years to teaching exclusively in St. James Parish and was one of two teachers who integrated the faculty of St. James High School. Her commitment to her students and strength of character helped guide African American students through an important period of change. She credits Principal Mark Bergeron for his fairness and support during that time. In retirement, Mrs. Edwards continued to serve her community through the Louisiana Retired Teachers Foundation, a past District IV president of Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, St. James Catholic Church, and the Tri-Parish Alumni Association of Southern University. She also established a book-giving program for children in St. James and Ascension Parishes. Above all, Mary Ann treasures her roles as wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was married to Lloyd C. Edwards for 59 years until his passing in 2019. She is the proud mother of Monique, Antonio, Herbert, and Lauren, grandmother of five: Theo, Orlando, Christa'lyn, Ryan and Taylor, and great-grandmother of Ethan, Chloe, and Jaylen. A devoted Southern University Jaguar and New Orleans Saints fan, Mary Ann enjoys traveling, especially with her daughter Monique, and is a proud

Bonnie Bart Ermon, of New Orleans, Louisiana, passed away peacefully, surrounded by love, on August 11, 2026, at the age of 98. Bonnie was born on April 9, 1928, to Jesse Sherwood Bart, Sr. and Ruth Casey Bart in New Orleans, the city she called home her entire life. She was preceded in death by her husband Ivy "Bubby" R. Ermon, Jr., her sister Patricia Bart Randall, and her brother Jesse Sherwood Bart, Jr. She leaves behind two children she loved, Jackie Lynn Ermon and Ivy "Robear" Ermon, Jr. (Cheryl). She adored her two grandsons, Bart Charles Bacigalupi (Brandi) and Robert Michael Bacigalupi (Andrew), and cherished her great-grandchildren, Sophia and Graham. She is also survived by a wide circle of cousins, nieces, nephews, and dear friends who called her "Aunt Bonnie," a title she wore with pride. She grew up attending Sacred Heart of Jesus School. Together with her husband and her brother, she owned and operated a New Orleans institution, the original Bart's Restaurant on the lakefront, where her warmth and hospitality became legendary. That same hospitality followed her everywhere, especially to her beloved second home on Sandy Hook Drive in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she spent countless happy years with family and friends. Anyone who knew Bonnie knew her door was always open — and that they would be greeted with a smile, a good meal, and more often than not, a cocktail. Her open house Christmas parties were an unforgettable tradition, complete with mini muffulettas, her famous pink slush and late-night mini grilled cheese sandwiches. She loved to cook, and she was always ready for a spirited game of cards with friends and family. She loved and supported

Maria Sly George, 91, passed away on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at Touro Infirmary LCMC Health in New Orleans, Louisiana. Maria, affectionately known as "Sis", was born August 25,1934, in Port Aurthur, Texas. She was raised by her Aunt Agnes and Uncle Elias Skipper in St. Martinville, Louisiana. She attended Carver High School in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana and Xavier University in Louisiana where she received a Bachelor's and double Masters' degrees. She was a retired educator of 34 years with the Lafayette and Orleans Parish School Boards. Through her efforts of protest to the Lafayette Parish School Board, Maria was successful in changing the name of Negro Elementary School to Katharine Drexel Elementary School. Maria was a Fourth-Degree Dominican Laity since 1956 and former member of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in New Orleans, Fourth-Degree Knights of Peter Clever Ladies Auxiliary Court #54, Dame Grand Cross Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Associate of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, former Sisters of the Holy Family Board Member, former member of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Family LifeMarriage Preparation Team, former International High School of New Orleans Board Member, Silver Member of Alpha Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, New Orleans Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Silhouettes, Past President Xavier University Alumni Federation and recipient of the 2017 Alumna of the Year, former President of the New Orleans Chapter of the National Association of University Women, President Emeritus of the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, District 1, Top Ladies of Distinction, incorporated, New Orleans Chapter, and New Orleans AARP Volunteer. Maria was a parishioner of St. Mary

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Assumption Catholic Church, New Orleans, Louisiana and a devout Catholic with immense faith in God. She was a Lector and Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharist with the Archdiocese of New Orleans. At any time of the day, she could be found clasping her rosary in prayer and viewing and later listening to the Catholic Channel. Her nightly routine was to pray the rosary with her cousin, Betty of Humble, Jenny of Slidell, and her husband, Ted. Family was everything to Maria; she was a loving wife and friend to many. Maria was known to be helpful to all. As a pastime, she enjoyed traveling, reading, Mardi Gras, cooking and hosting family, friends, and international guests with the most formal dinners. If she met you, she would adopt you. Among the adopted are Fr. John Asare-Dankwah, from Ghana, Fr. Raphael Owor from Uganda, Judge Marissa Hutabarat, Denise Lassaire, Wanda Charles, Cristall Fouche, Soror Cheryl Harris, Soror Centrell Ewell and others. Maria will be dearly missed by her family, friends, and community. She is survived by her loving husband of 37 years, Theodore H. George, Sr. of New Orleans, Louisiana; daughters, Thais GeorgeRobinson of New Orleans, Louisiana; Pia George Reed (Clarence) of Corsicana, Texas; Theodore H. George, Jr. (Patricia) of New Orleans, Louisiana; brother, Dobie Charles (Paulette), San Antonio, Texas; nieces, Charlar Brew (Ernest) of St. Martinville, Louisiana and Angelique Mallery of Houston, Texas; sisters-inlaw, Clara George Knighten and Sadie Lewis George as well as a host of nieces, nephews, grandchildren, great grandchildren and other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, Eunice and Eddie Sly; sister, Eddie Mae Sly; brother, Leo Paul Sly; Aunt Agnes and Uncle Elias Skipper and a host of cousins and friends. Wake service on Thursday, August 20, 2026, 4-6 p.m. Estelle J. Wilson Funeral Home, 2715 Danneel Street, New Orleans, LA 70113. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Mary Assumption Catholic Church, 2030 Constance Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 on Friday, August 21, 2026 at 10:00 am. An Ivy Beyond the Wall ceremony by the Alpha Beta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated will take place at 9:00am. Immediately following will be the recitation of the rosary. Interment will follow at St. Roch Cemetery No. 2, 1725 St. Roch Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70117. Estelle J. Wilson Funeral Home 2715 Danneel Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 is in charge of arrangements. In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting that gifts be made to Xavier University of Louisiana in memory of Maria Sly George. Mail contributions to: Office of Institutional Advancement, Xavier University of Louisiana 1 Drexel Drive, Box 66, New Orleans, LA 70125 c/o Memorial Gifts. https://ww w.xula.edu/givelovexavi er/ways-to-give.html

Giglio, John

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved father, John Giglio, on Friday, July 31, 2026, at the age of 95. John was born in Stamford, Connecticut, to Thomas and Margaret Giglio. An only child, he grew up in Stamford, where he attended Stamford High School and developed a lifelong love of baseball. From an early age, he showed both talent and passion for the game—an enthusiasm that remained with him throughout his life. In 1950, John proudly answered his country's call by joining the United States Navy. He served honorably during the Korean War and was discharged after three years of dedicated service. Shortly afterward, he married the love of his life, Johnnie, beginning a marriage that would span decades. John built a successful career in the electronics and appliance industries. In 1975, he relocated his family to New Orleans when Oreck Corp. moved its operations there. He remained with Oreck until his retirement in 2001. John was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas and Margaret Giglio; his beloved wife,

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Johnnie; and his cherished daughter, Lisa.

He is lovingly remembered by his children: Linda of Calistoga, California; David of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Dennis (Michael) of Palm Springs, California. He also leaves behind extended family and dear friends who will forever treasure his memory.

Griffin, Rosalie Ciaccio

Rosalie Ciaccio Griffin entered eternal rest on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, at the age of 99. She was born on December 13, 1926, in Independence, Louisiana, and was a resident of Metairie. She was a long-standing parishioner of St. Angela Merici Church where she was a member of the St. Angela Ladies Auxiliary (SALA) for many years and enjoyed visiting with her friends. Rosalie enjoyed cooking family meals often, and everyone was always welcomed at her table. In the early 1990's, she was inspired by St. Joseph to have a St. Joseph's Altar. Along with her family, she turned this into a nine-year celebration of thanks to St. Joseph for his blessings. She is preceded in death by her loving husband of 60 years, Warren J. Griffin, Sr., her beloved parents, Antonio and Ignazia Ciaccio, brothers, Charles and Mario, sister, Josephine, son-in-law, Dean Angerdina, grandchildren, Stephen Jr., Phoenix, and Brian Lousteau, and great-grandchildren, MacKynzie and Payton Lousteau. She is also preceded in death by her brother and sister in-laws, several nieces, nephews, and friends. She is survived by her beloved children, Jackie Angerdina, Linda Lousteau (Stephen), Barbara Lang, Warren Griffin, Jr. (Karen), and Stephen Lang, grandchildren, Mark Angerdina (Tracey), David Angerdina (Eve), Laurie Hoyt (Michael), Aimee Berthelot (Josh), Emily Bourgeois (Josh), Wyatt Lang (Joanne), Zach Lang (Tate), Tyler Lang (Bri), Erin Tracey (Brad), Elizabeth Tracey (David), greatgrandchildren, Jackson (Serafina), Madeleine (Monty), Mia, Julian, and Karly Angerdina, Michael Jr., Kaitlyn, and Katherine Hoyt, Nathan Lousteau, Isaac, Andee, and Elliot Berthelot, Jonathan and Joseph Bourgeois, Wyatt Jr., and Zach Jr. Lang, and Ella and David. She is also survived by many loving godchildren, nieces, nephews, and friends. The family would like to give a special thanks to the clergy for their lifelong spiritual support and to the doctors, nurses, and staff at East Jefferson General Hospital. Relatives and friends are invited to attend a funeral service on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, at St. Angela Merici Church, 901 Beverly Garden Dr. Metairie, LA. Visitation will be held from 10:30 am 12:15 pm with a Mass to begin at 12:15pm. Interment will follow at All Saints Mausoleum in Metairie Cemetery.

Hawkins, William A. 'Bill'

William Albert "Bill" Hawkins, an accomplished attorney, dedicated public servant, and beloved husband, passed away in New York City on June 24, 2026, at the age of 73, following complications from cancer. Born on February 20, 1953, near Deshler, Ohio, Bill spent his early years on his family's farm before moving to New Orleans as a teenager. The city became his adopted hometown and a place where he built a distinguished legal career, devoted himself to public service, and forged friendships that endured throughout his life. Bill earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of New Orleans and a Juris Doctor from the Loyola University College of Law. He prac-

ticed law for more than twenty-five years, including a decade alongside his wife and fellow attorney, Bonnie McRae, as cofounder of Louisiana Legal Clinics in New Orleans' French Quarter. Bill later joined the Orleans Parish Communication District as one of its earliest employees, helping establish the agency's legal and administrative foundation. Over more than two decades, first as General Counsel and later as Executive Director, he played a central role in modernizing New Orleans' 911 emergency communications system. He authored landmark legislation that significantly expanded emergency communications services in Orleans Parish and worked closely with local, state, and federal officials to strengthen emergency communications throughout Louisiana. Following Hurricane Katrina he remained at his post, helping restore critical emergency services during one of the city's defining moments of recovery. In 2006, Bill and Bonnie made their home in Manhattan, where Bonnie had attended law school at NYU. Bill quickly became an active member of their home's co-operative community, serving on its board of directors. He also devoted many years to caring for Bonnie's mother, Alma, whose comfort, dignity, and well-being became among his daily priorities until her passing. Family remained the center of Bill's life. Together, he and Bonnie shared a loving marriage of nearly fifty years and generously supported the college educations of members of their extended family. He cherished time with his nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, celebrating their accomplishments while offering encouragement, wisdom, and unwavering support. Bill and Bonnie shared a lifelong love of travel, especially road trips throughout New England and time spent in Florida and Cozumel. Carnival season held a special place in Bill's heart. As charter revival members of the Phunny Phorty Phellows, he and Bonnie faithfully celebrated the annual Twelfth Night streetcar ride, and Bill proudly served as the Krewe's "Boss" in 1984. Their home at the corner of Canal and Royal Streets in the French Quarter became a welcoming gathering place for family and friends throughout Carnival season. Bill also delighted in collecting and operating vintage 1950s American Flyer model trains and was redesigning his home track layout at the time of his passing. An enthusiastic family historian, he devoted countless hours to researching Hawkins genealogy, traveling throughout the Midwest with Bonnie in searches at libraries, churches, and historical societies. A lifelong Saints fan, he faithfully cheered on his team from Saints bars across New York City alongside fellow members of the New Orleans diaspora. He was preceded in death by his parents, Karl N. and Madeline D. Hawkins; his brothers, Jon and James "Jim" Hawkins; and a beloved nephew. He is survived by his wife, Bonnie McRae Hawkins of New York City; his sister, Caroline Donnelly (Robert), of Lexington, Virginia, together with their children, spouses, and grandchildren; his sister-in-law, Mary Ann Hawkins (Jim) of Miramar Beach, Florida, and her son and family; and the children, spouses, and grandchildren of his brother, Jon. Bill will be remembered for his intelligence, integrity, generosity, quick wit, and steadfast commitment to public service and to those he loved. His professional legacy endures in the emergency communications systems and public safety infrastructure that continue to serve the people of New Orleans. More importantly, he leaves behind the example of a life marked by integrity, generosity, quiet humor, unwavering devotion to family, and a deep sense of civic responsibility. He will be profoundly missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and all who had the privilege of knowing him. A private family inurnment will take place at a later date in the Hawkins family mausoleum in the countryside of northwestern Ohio.

Joseph, Dexter

In Loving Memory of Dexter Joseph Dexter Joseph, our protector and "9th Ward Soldier," transitioned peacefully on Sunday, August 2, 2026. Born May 29, 1956, in New Orleans, Dexter lived by the motto, "Don't Bow Down... Don't Know How." He accepted Christ at Greater Liberty Baptist Church and later joined Franklin Avenue Baptist Church. A 1974 graduate of George Washington Carver Senior High School, Dexter earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of New Orleans in 1991. He served for over 30 years with the City of New Orleans and Sewerage & Water Board. Family was Dexter's greatest joy. As the eldest of the LouMax 7, he embraced "LM1," leading with wisdom, humor, prayer, protection, and love. He was preceded in death by his grandparents and nephew, Joseph "JT" Barnett. He leaves to cherish his memory his wife, Tracy Aubert-Joseph; parents, Maxie G. Joseph and Louis B. Joseph; daughter, Renee Moore; granddaughter, Aaliyah D. Moore; stepchildren, Steven Victor (JaRica) and Jazmine Torrence (Shannon); siblings, Louis Joseph III, Tyrone Joseph (Elissa), Pattie J. Barbarin (Herbert), Carlette J. Smith (Gary), Wade Joseph Sr. (Brendel), Maureen Joseph, Yvette J. Barnett (Patrick), Keith Joseph Sr., Derrick Joseph Sr. (LaWan), and Jamal Joseph; Aunt Lorraine Y., Uncle Mike V., Jackie Spencer, and a host of loved ones. Family and friends are invited to attend the Celebration of Life Service on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, for 11:00 a.m. at Franklin Ave Baptist Church, 8282 I-10 Service Rd, New Orleans, LA 70126. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. Pastor Fred Luter, Jr., officiating. Interment will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery. Guestbook Online: www.anewtraditionbegins .com (504)282-0600. Linear Brooks Boyd and Donavin D. Boyd Owners/Funeral Directors.

Klein, Karay Cunningham

dog, Karay spoiled her with lots of great food, beautiful accommodation, and an abundance of love. Her love of cooking was enjoyed by family and friends alike, as she loved to entertain. When her husband John was alive, they enjoyed traveling and went on at least one cruise each year. Karay will be terribly missed by her family and friends. A Celebration of Life will be held at First United Methodist Church in Slidell, Louisiana, on August 18th at 1:oo PM. A reception will follow in the Church Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, please donate to your area Animal Shelter or SPCA.

Marley, Lawrence

Lawrence Marley Jr., was born on February 19, 1950, in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a devoted servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, peacefully entered into eternal rest on Sunday, July 26, 2026, at the age of 76. He leaves to cherish his loving memory his sisters, Linda Lockett (Otis) and Sondra Lewis (James); his daughters, Robin Jourdan (Gary) , Tammitra Tircuit, and April Cole (Vannoy) ; his sons, Shawn Castille and Lawrence Marley III (Gelon); his stepson, Jeffrey Celestand (Keisha); and his former wife, Sandra Celestand Marley. He also leaves behind his beloved grandchildren: Quadrell Jourdan, Quishon Williams (Regis), Quezhon Jourdan, Trinity Tircuit, Christian Tircuit, Vannoy Cole III, Daniel Cole, Jacob Cole,Abigail Cole, Sienna Marley, Lawrence Marley IV, Milan Marley, Adrian Marley, Taylor Castille, Jennie Myers (Mike), Jessica Schultz (Rob), Jordyn Celestand, Devyn Raymond, Joshua Celestand, and greatgrand kids Mason and Matthew Myers, and Kori Williams; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins,other relatives, and dear friends whose lives were blessed by knowing him.Lawrence was preceded in death by his parents, Bessie Lee Mitchell, Edward Mitchell, and Lawrence Marley Sr.; his brother, Ellery Mitchell and his sister Stephanie Mitchell.Relatives and friends of the family, also Pastor, officers and members of Historic Second Baptist Church are invited to attend the Celebration of Life Service on Monday, August 17, 2026, at Historic Second Baptist Church, 2505 Marengo Street, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115 at 10:00 a.m.Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m.until 10:00 a.m. A private burial will follow. You may sign the guest book on www.gertru degeddeswillis.com. Gertrude Geddes Willis Funeral Home Inc. in charge. (504) 522-2525.

Marsh, Steve

Karay Cunningham Klein, passed away on July 21, 2026. She was predeceased by her husband, John M. Klein, her mother, Katherine McGivern Cunningham, her father Murray Hunt Cunningham, Sr., her adoptive mother, Hannah Jacobs Cunningham, her brother Murray "Hunt" Cunningham, Jr., her son-in -law Rob Klein, and Rob's beautiful daughter Katee Klein Smith. She is survived by her sister, Debbie Cunningham Rubiano, brother-in-law Andrés Rubiano, nieces Hannah Rubiano, Catalina Rubiano, Keli Whitlock and her children, Jennifer Hegseth and her children, Linda Adler Cunningham, Hunt Cunningham's widow. Also, step-grandchildren, Natalie Dufour and Celeste Pruitt, and their children. Karay was involved in many organizations, DAR, PEO, 1st Methodist Church of Slidell, Keep Slidell Beautiful, Habitat for Humanity, ASPCA, Slidell Widows Club, and the Bayou Liberty Garden Club. Karay loved to sew, cook, was an avid reader, and worked the crossword and jumble puzzles each day in the Times Picayune. She adopted Frankie, her beloved dog, soon after she was widowed, and her daily routine included working out at the gym and then taking Frankie to an area park to walk. Frankie was a very lucky

Steve Marsh, age 71, passed away at his home in Metairie, Louisiana, on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Steve is survived by his beloved wife of 40 years, Karen Trahan Marsh; his two children, Corinne Marsh Barns (Kevin) and Henry Bradley Marsh (Angela); his five grandchildren, Donovan Barns, Charles Barns, Nora Marsh, Noah Marsh, and Lillian Marsh; his brother, Brian Marsh; his two nieces, Amber Hebert (Nelson) and Laura Jones (Adam); and his three grand nieces, Ashton Hebert, Victoria Hebert, and Ellyana Jones. He was preceded in death by his parents, Skip and Marge Marsh. Steve was born in Kansas City, Missouri on March 20, 1955. He graduated from East Jefferson / Bonnabel High School (class of 1973), where he served as class president, was on the wrestling team, and helped design the senior class ring. He continued his education at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), where he earned his bachelor's degree, served as fraternity

president of Delta Tau Delta, and was the vice president of the Greek Council. Steve's career in business spanned several decades. He worked for Northwestern Mutual Life and later with Magellan Financial Group, where he was a financial advisor for the service members at the Belle Chasse Naval Air Station. Steve had a passion for sailing, but most of all, he cherished the time spent with his family. He loved New Orleans and all the things that make the city unique; especially Mardi Gras, live music, and the French Quarter. He was also a parishioner of St. Angela Merici Catholic Church. A private service will be held on Saturday, August 15th; a Catholic Mass will be held at a date TBD. Please refer to Steve's Facebook for information on the Mass. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in Steve's memory to Cancer Crusaders, www.cancercru sadersla.org. To view and sign the online guest book, please visit LakeLawnMetairie.com

Mengel, William Douglas 'Red'

William "Red" Mengel The world lost a one-ofa-kind husband, dad, uncle, Paw Paw, friend, and boss on Thursday, July 30, 2026. William "Red" Mengel was 93 years old and passed away peacefully in Covington, Louisiana. Red was a native of New Orleans and had been a resident of Covington for the past 35 years. Growing up in the 7th Ward during the Great Depression, Red learned the value of hard work at an early age. At just 8 years old, he began delivering newspapers to help support his family. He proudly served his country in the United States Navy as a Seabee from 1952 to 1954, stationed on the island of Guam in the Pacific. After his military service, Red worked at Whitney Bank for 12 years before finding his true calling in the bowling business. He was the manager of Paradise Lanes for many years before moving on to Rainbow Lanes and Tiffany Lanes, eventually retiring from the bowling business. Red loved football. He played football at Nicholls High School and during his time in the Navy. He lived for football season, especially cheering on Tulane and the New Orleans Saints. Sundays will never be the same without him. Above all, Red was a family man. He is survived by his beloved wife of 70 years, Katusha Camnetar Mengel; daughters Jackie Mengel and Katusha Zeller (Gerry); son Michael Mengel; granddaughters Ashlyn Hall (Cody) and Casey Zeller; great-granddaughters Kaylyn Hall and Levie Hall; brother Wayne Mengel; his best friend and best man, Joe DiMaggio; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends who loved him dearly. He was preceded in death by his parents, William Simon Mengel and Lucille Douglas Mengel; his brother Charles Mengel; and sisters Jacqueline Mengel and Eileen Oster. Red leaves behind a lifetime of memories, laughter, stories, friendships, and love. He was truly one of a kind and will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

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Nelson, Paul Edgar

Paul Edgar Nelson cast off from the dock for his final voyage on August 10, 2026. Paul was born on the very fine day of September 1, 1942, to Elaine and Robert Nelson in New Orleans. He grew up in New Orleans, attended Country Day High School, then graduated from Southeastern University. While Paul was at university, he was set up on a blind date in 1963 with Page Thompson, who instantly became the love of his life for over 60 years. Paul and Page had three children, Norris Page (Alex Gagnet), Louise Webb Nelson (Helen Newton), and Robert Paul (Allyson Titus), who kept Paul busy making sailing dinghies, the push-mobile, and plenty of bike rides to McKenzie's for buttermilk drops. Paul loved watching his family grow and be happy. Paul enjoyed his days on his boat, tinkering, reading, and making new friends. He was thoughtful, creative, a wonderful storyteller and a history buff. Paul valued his regular lunch dates and excursions with his buddies, during which the "old guys" would exchange books and show-and-tells. Paul was rarely without a prop for a story and a captive audience. Paul spent years volunteering at the National WWII Museum and was on the restoration team rebuilding the PT-305, during which he would recount his duties in the Coast Guard. The unofficial "Mayor of Robert and Baronne Streets," Paul loved his neighborhood strolls, talking with his neighbors, and watching the birds and trees change through the seasons. Paul swapped his time for money (his words) while at IBM for 26 years and then at Carl E. Woodward. Paul leaves behind his beloved wife, Page, his bigshot big brother, Craig R. Nelson, and sweet younger sister, Kathy Nelson. He also leaves his 3 children; 8 grandchildren (William Winchester Gagnet, Nelson Catesby Gagnet, Christopher Page Gagnet, Bennett Robert Nelson, James Titus Nelson, Carter Penn Nelson, Shanen Marie Wall, Jacob Scott Newton); and 3 great-grandchildren. An advocate for snail mail, there is a chance you will receive one of Paul's famous letters, complete with his sketches, on its way to you. Family and friends are invited to a funeral service at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home and Cemeteries, 5100 Pontchartrain Boulevard, New Orleans 70124, on August 19, 2026. Visitation will take place from 11:00 am-12:00 pm, followed by a service at noon. Reception to follow. To view and sign the online guest book, visit www.LakeLawnMetairie.co m.

ge hicles, and treasured every opportunity to spend time with his family. Of all his accomplishments, nothing brought him greater happiness than watching his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren grow. He was preceded in death by his parents, Gertrude "Trudy" Hargis Parnell and Edward Charles Parnell, Jr., and his beloved sister, Gail Parnell Corbin. He is survived by his devoted wife of fifty-eight years, Janet DeSloover Parnell; his loving children, Tracy Parnell Kubricht (Kevin) and Edsel Charles Parnell, Jr. (Nastassja); his siblings, Daryl Edward Parnell (Cherie) and Trudy Parnell Cristina (the late Frank); and a family that was the center of his world. A proud and cherished Paw-Paw, he is lovingly remembered by his grandchildren: Katherine Riecke Mire (Christopher), Evan Christopher Parnell, Lauren Elizabeth Riecke, Elliot Conner Parnell, Olivia Nacole Parnell, Ethan Charles Parnell, Devin William Kubricht (Christen), Nicholas James Kubricht (Maria), Corinne Kubricht McDonnell (Macy), and Jaxon Tinker. He also leaves behind his beloved great-grandchildren, Olivia Margaret Kubricht, Nicholas James Kubricht II, Lily Anne Kubricht, Paige Elizabeth Kubricht, Gabriel James Kubricht, and Baby Boy Mire. Edsel is also survived by numerous beloved aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews, all of whom enjoyed his lively stories. The family warmly welcomes relatives and friends to celebrate Edsel's life and legacy. Visitation will be held on Friday, August 21, 2026, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. at EJ Fielding Funeral Home, followed by a Catholic Funeral Mass. Interment with military honors will follow at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery in Slidell. E.J. Fielding Funeral Home has been entrusted with funeral arrangements. Please sign the guestbook at www.ejfieldingfh.com.

Robin Jr., John G.

John G. Robin, Jr. John passed away in Oklahoma City on August 10, 2026. While in New Orleans he was an international banker with Hibernia National Bank. He attended Our Lady of Lourdes Grammar School, graduated from De La Salle and Tulane University. In 1978 he left many good friends and dear relatives to enhance his career with First National Bank in Oklahoma City with some regrets. https://www.crawfordfune ralservice.com/

Roussel, Mona L.

greatgrandchildren: Gideon Roussel, Malachi Roussel, Phoebe Roussel, Nehemiah Roussel, Max Roussel, Summer Roussel, Elijah Duplessis, Aurora Delgado, Noah Duplessis, Brooklynn Roussel, Zane Gonzales, Giovanni Gonzales, Amelia Underwood, August Underwood, and Avery Underwood. Mona retired from the Jefferson Parish Public School System after 15 years of service, during which she worked as a cafeteria manager at several schools. Through her work, she became a familiar and caring presence to generations of students and coworkers. Mona lived a full and active life and especially enjoyed the friendships she made along the way. Bowling and golf were two of her favorite pastimes, and for more than 40 years she participated in several bowling leagues and ladies' golf groups. She was also a member of the AARP Metairie Chapter for many years. Above all, Mona loved spending time with her family. She also loved to cook and enjoyed preparing meals for the people she loved. She enjoyed trips to the casino, working on jigsaw puzzles, playing cards, and crossstitching. Whether sharing a meal, enjoying one of her favorite activities, or simply being surrounded by those she loved, Mona treasured the people in her life and the memories they created together. Her 91 years brought a lifetime of experiences, friendships, and family memories. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by her children, grandchildren, greatgrandchildren, extended family, and all those fortunate enough to have known her. The family would like to express their heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Nicholas Hahn and the staff at JenCare Metairie; the caring staff of The Blake at Colonial Club Assisted Living; and the physical therapists and staff at OrthoPTic Rehab for the kindness, compassion, and care they provided to Mona. Relatives and friends are invited to attend visitation on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, from 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic Church, 10021 Jefferson Highway, River Ridge, Louisiana 70123. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 12:00 noon. Burial will follow at Lake Lawn Park Cemetery, 5454 Pontchartrain Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70124. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider having a Catholic Mass offered in Mona's memory or making a memorial donation to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. To view and sign the online guestbook, visit www.LakeLawnMetairie.co m.

Schoenberger, Kevin Conrad

Parnell, Edsel Charles

Edsel Charles Parnell, Sr., born on September 22, 1945, in New Orleans, Louisiana, passed away peacefully on August 6, 2026, in Covington, Louisiana, surrounded by the love of his family. A proud Vietnam veteran, Edsel dedicated his life to serving both his country and his community. He was a devoted member of St. Peter Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, where he faithfully served as Past Grand Knight, the American Legion, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Edsel found joy in life's simple pleasures. He was an avid NASCAR fan, bird watcher, took great pride in his beloved vintage ve-

Mona Lee Roussel, a longtime resident of Metairie, Louisiana, entered into eternal rest with the Lord on Saturday, August 8, 2026, at the age of 91. Mona was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Carl M. Roussel, Sr.; her mother, Amy Orgeron De La Rue; and her five sisters, Patricia Behan, Valerie Kuhn, Sherry Graf, Maxine Fruge, and Diane Gillies. She is survived by her sons, Carl Roussel, Jr. (JoAnn) and Charles Roussel (Jeaneen), and former daughter-in-law, Gina Roussel. Mona was the proud and loving grandmother of Christopher Roussel (Mandie), Jared Roussel (Emily), Casey Roussel (Jose), Colin Roussel (Khylee), Cameron Roussel (Shelbi), Francesca Duplessis (Tyler), Angela Underwood (Alex), Ashlynn Flynn (Michael), and Austin Willis (Danielle). One of Mona's greatest joys was watching her family grow. She was blessed with fifteen great-

Kevin died peacefully on August 2, 2026 at the age of 79. He was a lifelong resident of New Orleans. He is survived by his sons, Kevin Jr. (Casey) and Colin, his daughter, Sara, as well as his sister, Mary Schoenberger Willkomm. He battled cancer for two years. His wife of 40 years, Cindy Ross Schoenberger, predeceased him. Kevin was an alumnus of Notre Dame University and attended Tulane University for law school (and regularly attended Tulane baseball games). He was a dedicated attorney in New Orleans for decades. He was also a college swimmer and always enjoyed being on the water, from time on the beach on the Gulf to fishing with friends. He was a lifelong history lover and cherished time with his friends, his children and his grandchildren.

Shallenberger, Sharon Lee

On Tuesday, August 4th, 2026, Sharon Lee McCaffree Shallenberger of Lake Oswego, Oregon, passed away at the age of 89. She was born on November 10, 1936, in Nevada, Missouri, to William McCaffree and Katherine Grinstead McCaffree. After losing both parents at a young age, she went on to earn Bachelor's degrees in Journalism and History at the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a Master's degree in History at Washington University in St. Louis. Sharon led a vibrant and diverse career. Her professional and creative highlights included serving as a church organist, a journalist, and a history professor at St. Louis Community College. She was also a published author of five romance novels for Harlequin, and the proud owner of the Paperbacks Plus bookstore. Sharon dedicated much of her time to her community as an active volunteer with the Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO), the Lions Club, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and several other organizations throughout her lifetime. Her hobbies included playing piano, reading, sewing and rock collecting. She is survived by her children, Anna Fay, Kurt Douglas (Lauren), and William Charles (Katherine); and her grandchildren, Greta, Peter, Ben, Sara, and Zach. She is also survived by her brother, William G. McCaffree. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, C. Douglas Shallenberger Jr., her sister, Mary McCaffree and cousin Jerry Grinstead. A small Celebration of Life will be held in the future for family. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made to the Salvation Army.

Snyder, Kristen Marie Garden

Kristen Marie Snyder, beloved wife, daughter, granddaughter, family member, and friend, passed away on July 30, 2026, at the age of 48. She entered into eternal rest surrounded by the love of her family. Born June 10, 1978, Kristen was raised in Chalmette, Louisiana, and later lived in Northwest Arkansas with her beloved husband, Jeremy Snyder. Kristen graduated from Mount Carmel Academy in 1996 and earned her degree in accounting from the University of New Orleans in 2000. She later earned her MBA from the University of Arkansas in 2016. After earning her accounting degree, Kristen began her professional career with Deloitte. She later worked for America's Car-Mart before joining Seminole Hard Rock Corporation, where she most recently served as Senior Manager-Financial Reporting, a position she considered her dream job. Kristen loved traveling, cruises, Disney, sporting events, and spending hours cooking for the people she loved. She also supported her husband, Jeremy, and his hearing service dog, Mike VI, who became an important part of their shared life and a beloved member of their family. Kristen is survived by her husband, Jeremy Snyder; her mother, Donna M. Rathburn; her uncle, Bryan Rathburn; her grandmother, Gail Redding; Trudy Rathburn, wife of late Gerald Rathburn; her mother-inlaw, Mary Snyder; her father-in-law, Dennis Snyder;

✦ yder; The Times-Picayune nola.com ✦ility Sunday, August 16, 2026 ,D rg ✦ 5B and Karen Snyder, and planting trees along Jeremy's stepmother. She Main Street— a transforwas preceded in death by mation still felt today. Her her late grandfather, contributions were recogGerald Rathburn and her nized by the Garden Club great-grandparents, late of America with its Club Mr. and Mrs. AJ Persica. Appreciation Award in 2008, and in May 2022 she She will be deeply was honored for 50 years missed and lovingly re- of service to the Millbrook membered by her family, Garden Club and the friends, and all who had Garden Club of America. An accomplished tennis the privilege of knowing her. May she rest in the player, Midge competed well into her mid-70s, earnpeace of Christ. ing numerous trophies in Relatives and friends women's and mixed douare invited to attend the bles play throughout her Funeral Services at Garden life. A lifelong tennis enof Memories Funeral Home thusiast, she rarely missed & Cemetery, 4900 Airline watching a major tournaDr. Metairie, LA 70001 on ment. Her favorite events Saturday, August 22, 2026. were Wimbledon and the Visitation will begin at US Open. For over thirty years, 11:00 am with a Mass starting at 1:00 pm followed by Midge spent her winters in St. Croix, where she lived burial. in the easternmost house the United States, In lieu of flowers, the in family asks that donations perched several hundred be made in Kristen's mem- feet above Jack Bay. For ory to Canine Companions exercise, she often swam at www.canine.org. Kristen out in the ocean off deeply loved her hus- Grapetree Beach and the band's hearing service Ha'penny Club. The latter dog, Mike VI, and was was a great place to hunt grateful for the indepen- for conch. In her sixties dence, companionship, she led an aerobics class and joy he brought into that included many locals, Mary Tyler their lives and would be a including meaningful way to honor Moore. Midge was a dog person Kristen's memory and help provide life-changing ser- and always had one at her vice-dog partnerships to side. She was a regular atothers. Online condolences tendee at the Westminster may be offered at www.ga Kennel Club's annual dog rdenofmemoriesmetairie.c show, where she held box seats. The highlight was in om. 2010, when she watched as her friends Amelia Musser and Gayle Bontecou each had one of the seven finalists for Best in Show. Amelia's Scottish Terrier, Sadie, won Best in Show. Over the years, she owned a range of show-quality Wheaton Morse, Mary dogs, from Great Danes Jane down to her favorite wirehair dachshunds. Her last dog, Curry, was the sweetest of them all. She was predeceased by her husbands, Scott R. Wheaton and Clayton J. Morse. Midge is survived by her children, Scott R. Wheaton Jr. (Gretchen) and Steven F. Wheaton (Dottie); her grandchildren, Lydia W. Lynn (Steve), Molly E. Wheaton (Michael), S. Wheaton Mary Jane Wheaton Fletcher Morse, known to many as (Elisa), and Daisy Jane "Midge," 96, died peaceful- Wheaton (Cynthia); and great-grandchildren, ly at her home on August 8, her 2026, surrounded by family Logan R. Lynn and Parker who had gathered to cele- F. Wheaton Herrera. At the age of 80, Midge brate her 96 years. She was born on December 11, moved to New Orleans, 1929, in Omaha, Nebraska, Louisiana, where she spent to Wilfred J. Daily and Olive her final years. Midge was fortunate to Leota Means Daily. Midge was a force of na- have had a strong group of ture. Determined and per- caregivers over the last sistent, with a fierce com- year and a half, including Santos, Dorinda petitive streak, she Marly brought that same drive to Prestenbach, Farrel Fisher, her daily life, her corporate and Kimberlee Peeper, to endeavors, and the tennis whom the family extends court. She was the epitome its heartfelt gratitude. At a private ceremony, of fashion and glamour, making a point to dress to Midge will be laid to rest in the nines with all the ac- Millbrook, NY, alongside cessories, even in her her two husbands, Scottie nineties. She embraced the and Clay. In lieu of donations, the cultural riches of New York City, whether dining in family asks that you take a New York's theater district moment to reach out to or frequenting the Union someone close to you and League Club. Wherever she give them a hug. Life, even was, she would be, at 96, is short. "putting on the ritz." Wolfe, Ann Terrell Midge spent most of her adult life in Dutchess County, New York, dividing her time between Poughkeepsie and Millbrook. She was deeply involved in her community, serving as president of the Children's Home in the mid -1950s and on the board of directors of several local banks and hospitals, including Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie. Midge's devotion to the Garden Club of America ANN TERRELL WOLFE spanned decades and was one of the great passions died August 6, 2026 at the of her life. In the 1970s, she age of 88 at Hospice of led efforts to beautify West Alabama. The family Millbrook — placing the will have a private service a l date. utility lines underground See more DEATHS, page d planting t al

6B ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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OPINION N O L A.C O M/opinions

OUR VIEWS

For Sewerage & Water Board, the buck now — finally — stops at City Hall New Orleans kicks cans down the road. Seems it always has. That’s true when it comes to maintaining infrastructure, and it’s particularly true when we’re talking about the ever-maligned Sewerage & Water Board, which is responsible for water and sewer services as well as drainage. The problem is not just bad habit, but faulty structure. Created in state law, overseen in limited ways by the City Council but also its own separate entity, the S&WB’s convoluted governance has long led to paralysis, finger pointing and problems falling through the cracks. Or maybe we should say flowing through them, as we saw in the latest revelation from reporter Ben Myers that the agency is losing a stunning 76% of water it pays to treat, mostly via broken pipes. Sure, there’ve been some advances in recent years: the installation of smart meters aimed at bringing shockingly routine billing errors under control; a long-anticipated new power plant meant to deliver reliable electricity to pumps; the consolidation of long-bifurcated responsibility for major and minor drainage pipes. Yet the demoralizing headlines keep coming, about burst pipes on major streets, boil water advisories, flooding during heavy rain, even failures at that brand new power station. It’s not just the confusing, outdated governance that undermines accountability, long-term planning and public trust. There’s also the separate but related challenge of paying the bills. So we’re encouraged to see Mayor Helena Moreno and the council working to bring major change to the water board. Armed with new state legislation giving it broad new authority, the council has passed an ordinance to give it the “tools to provide stronger accountability, greater transparency and a clearer focus on results,” as Moreno put it. These include approval over budgets and executive contracts and new emergency protocols. Moreno also set up a committee to provide recommendations on the transition to local control. And she’s moving to remake the board with appointees who serve at her pleasure. Among the weighty items on the city’s to-do list are building public support for rates that meet the system’s vast needs, and convincing voters to pass a new fee to replace several expiring drainage millages, which would likely require large nonprofits to contribute and may be broadened to pay for other infrastructure needs. Whether this all ends with the S&WB being fully absorbed into city government isn’t clear, but we’re glad to see officials attack the situation with urgency. “Reform will not happen overnight, but meaningful change starts with accountability. This is a turning point,” Moreno said. Like the citizens of New Orleans, we’re tired of the daily frustrations and the endless excuses, and we welcome that promise. Now comes the hard but vital part, making that meaningful change a reality. If Moreno and the council don’t get this right, next time there won’t be any confusion over who’s to blame.

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identifying name, occupation and/or title and the writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@ theadvocate.com.

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House looks like blight, but there’s more to it Vegetation and neglect are trying to erase a little-known — but important — link between Louisiana and the Harlem Renaissance, the Black cultural and intellectual movement that blossomed in the 1920s. Arna Bontemps, a key Faimon ﬁgure in the movement, Roberts was born in Alexandria in 1902. His family lived in the city for only three years before joining the Great Migration to the West Coast. In the 1920s, Bontemps landed in New York, where he wrote acclaimed books, poems and essays. He also befriended other Black luminaries like W.E.B. Du Bois and Langston Hughes. So his time in Louisiana was short. But in the 1990s, his childhood home was moved from its original location to Third Street in downtown Alexandria, just steps from the Red River. There, it opened as a museum, where it served to recount Bontemps’ life and the Renaissance’s story. Over time, however, funding became an issue. The museum went to being open by appointment only, then permanently closed. A news story in

2018 featured a plea for community help to maintain it. Today, it looks like blight. Bushes grow around its historical marker, and the plaques are faded and difficult to read. Overgrowth obscures the front porch and door. Some siding has fallen off and at least one window is missing. I reached out to Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy’s office. Deputy Chief Administrative Officer Michael Caffery told me that the city owns the lot, but the Arna Bontemps Foundation owns and is responsible for the house. “We have actively sought to make contact with the point person for the foundation since we entered office in 2022, unsuccessfully,” Caffery told me. “We’ve made numerous attempts to speak to people about it.” Periodically, people have told city officials they are in contact with the family, but those efforts have generally resulted in little or no improvement, Caffery said. The Louisiana secretary of state’s website says the foundation’s status as a Louisiana nonprofit was revoked in 2024. The most recent audit on file with the Louisiana legislative auditor is from the fiscal year that ended in July 2017.

My efforts to contact anyone connected to the foundation were also unsuccessful. All of that is a shame. Arna Bontemps may not have been in Louisiana for long, but he is an important example — among scores of good ones — of how people forged in the Bayou State affected the country and the world through their creative or intellectual expression. Part of the problem is that Arna Bontemps is not a household name. He’s not Louis Armstrong, Jon Batiste or Irma Thomas. I had never heard of him before reading a recent column by longtime Alexandria journalist Bob Tompkins in the online publication Rapides Parish Journal. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t important, or that his house shouldn’t be preserved so that the public will continue to learn Bontemps’ story. If the foundation can’t do it, the city should step in. If the city is unable, then the state should get involved. Like all good writers, Bontemps’ words will endure. It’s only right that his house be allowed to do the same. Email Faimon A. Roberts III at froberts@theadvocate.com.

Learning to appreciate view from afar It’s often said that familiarity breeds contempt. That certainly seems to be the case in today’s political environment. The long-standing political parties are being spurned by all sides as voters seek new ideas and new voices. But it’s also true that when you look around at other political systems, Arnessa there’s much that works Garrett in our own despite the current dysfunction. Travel often provides an up-close look at the beneﬁts and drawbacks of how other countries run. And often when I return from traveling abroad, I am struck by how much the rights and freedoms we take for granted here are unparalleled elsewhere in the world. Indeed, it’s not only the freedom to express our views that sets this country apart, but also there is a broad

freedom from government intrusion that our Constitution guarantees. The beneﬁts of American citizenship cannot be overstated, and it’s no doubt why we attract immigrants from all over the world. Still, it’s easy to lose sight of that when we have serious debates over the direction of our country. Let’s hope that even those who are on opposing sides of the political spectrum have an interest in maintaining the foundational freedoms we have come to enjoy. Having debates is good, but they should be predicated on a healthy respect for the systems of government that have long sustained us. Nowadays, from the fringes, we are seeing arguments that the basic ideals on which this country was founded are no longer valid. Let’s hope we don’t have to learn the lesson of “absence makes the heart grow fonder” when it comes to our freedoms. Turning to our letters inbox, it seems

that many of you may have been traveling as well in recent weeks, as we received fewer letters than usual. The week of July 23-29, we counted 30 letters. The topic that most concerned you was the fight between New Orleans officials and state officials over the indictment of Attorney General Liz Murrill. We logged five letters on the topic. Then there were several topics that got two letters each, including Mardi Gras, Meta ads on our website, socialism and voting. For the week of July 29-Aug. 6, we received 49 letters. We received five letters that fell into the miscellaneous category, but voting was the most popular topic, with four letters received. Then a number of topics prompted two letters, including a potential SpaceX development in Vermilion Parish. Arnessa Garrett is Managing Editor | Opinion Page Editor. Email her at arnessa.garrett@theadvocate.com.

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 7B

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COMMENTARY

Helping Ukraine can mean beaucoup jobs for La. When it comes to helping Ukraine, striking while the drones are hot also could beneﬁt Louisiana. U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and indeed the entire Louisiana delegation, should help. This past week, a group from the internationally acclaimed nonproﬁt group Razom for Quin Ukraine, led locally Hillyer by former Saints executive and city councilman Arnie Fielkow, traveled throughout Louisiana on a goodwill tour for that brave but beleaguered nation. Razom was doing more than just spreading kumbaya, however. It also was promoting important economic development opportunities for Louisiana. The timing is certainly right. As has been well reported, Ukraine seems to have gained a slight but tenuous upper hand in its existential war against Russian attackers. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate on Aug. 7 overwhelmingly passed a major bill allowing tough sanctions to be levied on countries that purchase Russian oil and other products — but the bill still must pass the House, where Johnson and Scalise hold sway. It was in the immediate wake of that Senate vote that the Razom group toured Louisiana, urging House passage of that bill, plus requesting more assistance. But the newest part of the pitch was

ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO By TETIANA DZHAFAROVA

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a news conference in Kyiv in 2025. the bit about Bayou State business opportunities. “The most obvious [opportunity] is in defense tech,” said Daryna Lesniak, the D.C.-based “advocacy coordinator” for Razom. “We are seeing a lot of partnerships already with the Ukrainian drone manufacturers entering the U.S. market,” including a manufacturing plant in Ohio and completion of “a phase of the U.S. drone dominance program” that will help meet the defense needs of the U.S. itself. Remember, the quality of Ukrainian drone technology in some ways exceeds that of the American military, so this is a way Ukrainian know-how can be put to work with U.S. employees

to bolster American defenses. It’s a prototypical win-win scenario for everybody. “Louisiana is actually very well positioned to beneﬁt from this,” Lesniak continued, envisioning possible production or spinoffs here, “because the state already has a strong manufacturing and industrial base, and obviously major port infrastructure and an aerospace and defense presence.” She also stressed that, with Ukraine being one of the world’s greatest agricultural producers, a big opportunity exists for partnership with American agricultural technology programs. But how does that help Louisiana?

Postwar rehabilitation, that’s how. “Ukraine’s agricultural exports are dependent on ports in Odessa that Russia has [signiﬁcantly damaged], and this has really reduced Ukraine’s export capacity,” she said. “So Ukraine really needs investment and things like grain terminals and loading equipment. … Louisiana companies have the expertise that Ukraine would need to rebuild its agricultural export infrastructure.” Pushing these and similar messages, Razom’s team met on Aug. 11 with a group of greater New Orleans economic development executives, and it held similar meetings in Baton Rouge and Shreveport. Harrison Crabtree, executive director of the World Trade Center of New Orleans, said he was intrigued and impressed. “I think Louisiana companies can absolutely play a role on the defense side,” he said, speciﬁcally citing drone-related opportunities “through both private companies and also our number of major military installations.” He also is particularly interested in how Louisiana can help Ukraine in the area of “rapid recovery.” “As we well know, in Louisiana we have extensive experience in rebuilding after major disasters: everything from setting up new school systems to creating a new energy grid, to preserving culture, to rebuilding the basic infrastructure that a society needs,” Crabtree said. “So, taking those experiences that we’ve learned

through decades of hard work, and really lending that expertise and that technical knowledge to the Ukrainian government, is a huge opportunity.” All of which is even more reason for the Louisiana delegation to ramp up assistance for Ukraine. Indeed, Johnson and Scalise should make passage of the anti-Russian sanctions bill the House’s ﬁrst order of business when Congress’ August “recess” is over. The sooner the U.S. can squeeze Russia and thus help bolster Ukraine’s bargaining position, the better. The sanctions bill should be easy and quick. But there’s plenty more the U.S. ought to do — and again, support from Johnson and Scalise is key. Most urgently, not only should the U.S. give Ukraine permission to build its own defensive Patriot missiles, but we should pour more money, quickly, into U.S. domestic Patriot production both for our own needs and to sell to Ukraine immediately. Russia, alas, is increasingly successful at launching missiles to kill Ukrainian civilians and destroy hospitals, energy infrastructure and cultural heritage areas. There is absolutely no good reason to refuse to help Ukraine this way. And, as Razom’s Louisiana tour made clear, the downstream opportunities for Louisiana alone could well repay whatever aid America provides. Email Quin Hillyer at quin. hillyer@theadvocate.com.

Landry’s trashing New Orleans? Must be election time In the beginning of Jeff Landry’s quest to become governor of Louisiana in 2023, there was New Orleans. The city featured prominently in his tough-on-crime ads and in mocking rhetoric that played well among his base, but terribly in the city that was the butt of his attacks. After Landry won, the city and state saw several Stephanie years of productive detente Grace and even some actual joining of hands and minds on hosting last year’s Superbowl and ﬁghting crime, which started dropping before he sent Louisiana State Police’s Troop Nola to town and continues to wane. So why is the governor now back to trashing the city? Must be time for the next election. Sure, we’re more than a year out from the 2027 vote. But now is the time when potential challengers are watching and weighing, trying to assess the governor’s strength, and insiders are wondering if there’s an opening for former Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, or a more moderate Republican like Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser or former U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, either of whom could attract Democratic votes. And while incumbents are generally

hard to knock off, particularly in a state dominated by one party — well, Landry’s numbers could be better. One poll from last spring showed him with just a 43% approval rating. Late last year, another had him at 39%. Early in his tenure he did muscle through some major legislation, including to undo bipartisan criminal justice reforms that reduced the state’s nationtopping mass incarceration rate, and that was targeted to nonviolent offenders. He also leaned on lawmakers to change the way Louisianans vote. Landry wasn’t able to secure party primaries for all, but he did get the Legislature to switch to a more restrictive system for Congress and a few other ofﬁces, despite polls showing that few voters wanted their choices at the ballot box limited. They haven’t had a chance to weigh in on that, but they have been able to vote on a host of constitutional amendments the governor pushed. For two years in a row, every one of them went down to defeat. And by the way, what exactly was Louisiana supposed to get out of Landry’s trek to Greenland as President Donald Trump’s absurdly titled “special envoy,” where he got dissed in front of the television cameras by children? Of course Landry can claim some victories, the biggest being the attraction of ma-

jor investments capped by the giant Meta AI data center in remote Richland Parish. These AI centers have become increasingly controversial around the country, but less in Louisiana, at least so far. Yet there are signs of unease, including over his broad use of non-disclosure agreements. Several of his GOP allies in the Legislature have pushed back, noting that the people they represent expect their elected ofﬁcials to level with them on matters that impact their communities. And so, with another election on the horizon, his focus turned back to New Orleans. This past legislative session, he and his allies pushed beyond all reason to eliminate judicial ofﬁces in the city, most dramatically the clerk of Criminal District Court and also several judgeships. The idea wasn’t unreasonable, but the way Landry and legislative Republicans pushed it — including invalidating an election that had already happened without analysis of the potential savings, as if it were some sort of emergency — was the stuff of political theater, not sober rightsizing. Same for Landry’s recent rhetoric following the indictment of his ally Attorney General Liz Murrill, which should never have happened and was quickly quashed — but which never would have happened

had Murrill not threatened to remove the mayor, district attorney and City Council majority. Rather than cool things down, Landry went ballistic, painting Mayor Helena Moreno and the city’s other newly elected leaders with the managerial sins of their predecessors, when in fact they’re working responsibly to dig themselves out of the hole. Then came his condescending comments about a place that still drives much of the state’s economic activity and, as always, lives in the world’s imagination. Forget Drew Brees’ emotional tribute to the city’s soul at that Hall of Fame speech; the governor of the state said mockingly that “New Orleans thinks they’re so special” — a line that instantly appeared on T-shirts and entered New Orleans’ vast lexicon. So, frankly, should the ever-quotable James Carville’s assessment of the situation, as told to my colleague Tyler Bridges: “Lawyers have a saying: If you have the law, pound the law. If you have the facts, pound the facts. If you have neither, pound the table. If your approval rating is stuck in the 40s, pound New Orleans.” Couldn’t have said it better myself. Email Stephanie Grace at sgrace@ theadvocate.com.

Forthcoming munitions crisis is both foreseeable and dire During the 1979-1980 hostage crisis, a defiant Iran starkly demonstrated the limits of American power. Forty-five years later, it is doing the same thing, although in vastly different circumstances. Back then, when the postVietnam military was at a low ebb, we didn’t strike Iran, and a long-shot rescue operation ended in abject Rich failure. Lowry Now, with the U.S. military at its most proficient and professional in history, we have inflicted punishing blows against the regime but still haven’t been able to impose our will, in part because we are running low on the munitions necessary to prosecute the war. Not only is this embarrassing, it is dangerous. If Operation Midnight Hammer — last year’s lightning strike against Iranian nuclear facilities — demonstrated the prowess of the U.S. military and sent a useful deterrent message to our enemies, the Iran War is now doing the opposite. We’re running low on missiles and inter-

ceptors in a months-long conflict with a beleaguered second-rate power. What would happen in a drawn-out war with a major adversary? President Donald Trump has posted a thunderous denunciation of leaks to the media about our depleted weapons stocks, and the leaks are indeed irresponsible. But this problem is a matter of public record and has been tracked by outside organizations. At the end of July, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that, out of an arsenal of 2,330 Patriot interceptors before the Iran war, we had roughly 800 remaining. We were down to roughly 250 THAAD interceptors from 450 at the start of the war. On top of this, news organizations are reporting that we are almost out of ATACMS — a ground-launched precision-strike missile — and Precision Strike Missiles, the newer, longer-range successor to ATACMS. This isn’t comforting at a time when a war with China could be in the offing. Even before Operation Epic Fury, a war game involving a conflict in the Taiwan Strait conducted by CSIS had the U.S. running

out of key munitions in days or weeks. What happened? This is a crisis a long time in the making. As defense analyst Mackenzie Eaglen of the American Enterprise Institute has warned for years, skimping on the acquisition of munitions was an easy way to meet constrained Pentagon budgets, and we relied on optimistic scenarios about potential wars to justify chronically insufficient production. For some understandable reasons, we also emphasized sophisticated missiles and interceptors over “good enough” systems. This led to Iran, for instance, forcing us to use highly expensive, difficult-toreplace interceptors against cheap, bulk threats from drones. All this means that we’ve expended ordnance that it will take us years to build again. According to media reports, we’ve used about half our supply of Tomahawk cruise missiles, when we’ve been manufacturing fewer than 100 a year. We need to put missile production on a wartime footing, and leverage hungry new defense firms to produce cheaper precision missiles and interceptors at scale.

In World War II terms, it’s the difference between the easy-to-maintain and massproduced Sherman tank and the exquisite and powerful but ultimately impractical Tiger. Whatever advantages the Tiger had in armor and punch, you’d still rather be the U.S. with 50,000 Shermans than the Germans with 1,500 Tigers. The Trump administration has been talking the right game, and there have been encouraging moves. It has signed agreements to acquire 10,000 cruise missiles over three years at a cost of a few hundred thousand dollars each, far less than a Tomahawk at more than $2 million. Wars always bring surprises. It should have been a shock to no one, though, that contemporary military conﬂict is largely missile warfare, or that we’d have trouble sustaining prolonged hostilities given that we started out with inadequate stocks. The American way of warfare is often to mess it up before adjusting and getting it right. The course correction here should be considered the most urgent priority of U.S. national security. Rich Lowry is on X, @RichLowry.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ARE WELCOME. HERE ARE OUR GUIDELINES: Letters are published identifying name, occupation and/or title and the

writer’s city of residence. The Advocate | The Times-Picayune require a street address and phone number for verification purposes, but that information is not published. Letters are not to exceed 300 words. Letters to the Editor, The Advocate, P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821-0588, or email letters@theadvocate.com.

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8B ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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with meteorologist Damon Singleton

TODAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

A stray afternoon t-storm

A t-storm around in the p.m.

An afternoon t-storm; hot

Humid; a stray p.m. t-storm

Some sun with a thunderstorm

A shower in the afternoon

HIGH

97° 79°

LOW

96° 78°

Beaumont 96/75 Port Arthur 95/75

Baton Rouge 99/76

Lake Charles 96/77

New Orleans 97/79 Houma 95/76

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

Hattiesburg 102/77

Alexandria 102/76

Lafayette 96/77

10s

20s

30s

40s

50s

95° 79°

LOW

94° 77°

TEMPERATURE Jackson 102/76

Many 100/74

LOW

YESTERDAY

New Orleans through 5 p.m. Saturday

Longview 104/75

-0s

96° 77°

Monroe 102/77

Shreveport 103/76

-10s

LOW

60s

70s

80s

90s 100s 110s

High/low Normal high/low Last year’shigh/low Record high Record low

TODAY’S TIDES Lake Pontchartrain (Tchefuncte River) Shell Beach South Point, Marsh Island Cypremort Point Grand Isle (Barataria Pass) Mississippi River (Southwest Pass) Wine Island

Sunrise today Sunset tonight Moonrise today Moonset today FIRST

AUG 19

Shown are areas of precipitation and high temperatures for the day.

HIGH

12:16p 7:08a 7:14a 8:50a 2:19a 1:15a 3:27a

LAST

AUG 27

Atlanta Austin Boston Charlotte Chicago Dallas Denver Houston Las Vegas

24-hour total Month to date Normal month to date year to date Normal year to date

FT.

0.4 1.0 1.6 1.5 0.8 0.9 1.0

6:29 a.m. 7:41 p.m. 10:27 a.m. 9:59 p.m.

FULL

City

PRECIPITATION

96°/77° 92°/77° 92°/76° 101° in 2023 65° in 1965

TODAY

96 102 79 94 86 103 84 99 100

77 74 69 75 67 80 60 76 83

t s s t t s t s pc

Today Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

SEP 10

98 102 74 94 80 105 90 98 104

MON. Lo

78 77 68 76 65 82 65 79 85

FT.

HIGH

0.3 0.6 0.6 0.9 0.6 0.6 0.7

READING 58 MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

MAIN POLLUTANT Particulates

SOURCE: LOUISIANA DEQ AND AIRNOW.GOV

FT.

LOW

FT.

--- --- 8:22p 0.3 8:56p 0.8 1:40p 0.6 8:30p 1.5 11:59p 1.1 10:43p 1.4 3:31p 0.6 --- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ---

City

t s sh t pc s s s s

2:39a 3:30a 4:19a 5:08a 5:57a 6:45a 7:31a

Los Angeles 84 Miami 94 Nashville 101 New york City 79 Philadelphia 80 Phoenix 107 St. Louis 93 San Francisco 72 Seattle 77

8:51a 9:41a 10:31a 11:20a 12:09p 12:32a 1:19a

TODAY Lo

67 80 78 70 72 87 72 59 58

3:02p 3:52p 4:43p 5:32p 6:21p 7:10p 7:57p

pc pc s sh t t t pc pc

87 96 95 83 89 113 86 71 81

9:13p 10:04p 10:54p 11:44p ---12:57p 1:44p

MON. Lo

69 79 74 70 72 92 71 60 57

Weather (W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

pc t t c c s t pc pc

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22.14

+4.15

-1.53

+0.11

18 29 8

-1.22 10.00 1.36

-0.02 -0.04 +0.02

13 15

1.40 0.81

-0.03 -0.02

47 34 29 20 12 6

8.19 5.22 3.94 4.02 2.90 2.52

+0.65 +0.35 +0.21 +0.17 none +0.16

SCAN

SELF-SCH TO

relaxing warm bath, or enjoy a convenient refreshing shower while seated or standing with Safe Step Walk-In Tub’s FREE Shower Package!

-0.10 +0.28 +0.20 +0.10 none -0.13 +0.01

Now

1.20 18.60 21.30 7.80 4.20 3.71 2.50

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34 48 48 35 27 22 17

SAT. 24-HOUR STAGE CHANGE

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FLOOD STAGE

MISSISSIPPI Memphis Vidalia-Natchez Red River Landing Baton Rouge Donaldsonville Reserve New Orleans OHIO Cairo COMITE Near Olive AMITE Near Darlington Denham Springs Port Vincent TICKFAW Montpelier Holden ATCHAFALAYA Simmesport Melville Krotz Springs Butte La Rose Bayou Sorrel Morgan City

ULE ED

N O R T H A M ER I CA’S

MODERATE

The solunar period schedule allows planning days so you will be fishing in good territory or hunting in good cover during those times. Major periods begin at the times shown and last for 1.5 to 2 hours. The minor periods are shorter. MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR

NEW

SEP 4

LOW

7:22a 12:44a 12:06p 2:53a 10:15a 7:48a 11:17a

0.00” 1.18” 3.15” 40.79” 42.09”

TODAY

MODERATE

97° 79°

LOW

$385 OFF $785 OFF

AP P

LOW

Another Extreme Heat Warning has been issued for all of Southeast Louisiana. It was issued because heat index values could rise to 115 or higher this afternoon while the actual temperatures will be in the upper 90s. Expect a mostly sunny, very hot and humid day with a slight chance of showers and storms. The heat risk for many of us is extreme today, so heat illnesses are possible. Be sure to stay hydrated and take frequent breaks if exerting yourself outdoors and remember the very high UVI.

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OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

SPORTS N O L A.C O M

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

PAGE 3C

1Cn

Preseason loss doesn’t dampen Saints’ good vibes

NFL PRESEASON: JAGUARS 24, SAINTS 20

STAFF PHOTOS By BRETT DUKE

New Orleans Saints quarterback Zach Wilson, right, throws the ball as Jacksonville Jaguars safety Caleb Ransaw defends during a preseason game on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome.

WHO’S NO. 2? QB Wilson shines, heats up battle vs. Rattler BY LUKE JOHNSON Staff writer

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler, right, loses the ball as he is brought down by Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker yasir Abdullah during a preseason game on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome.

Tulane offense rolls late in balanced scrimmage.

Spencer Rattler earned the start for the New Orleans Saints’ preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was Zach Wilson who looked the part. Checking in midway through the second quarter of the Saints’ 24-20 loss, Wilson showed off the tantalizing talent that once made him the second overall pick in an NFL draft, leading a pair of scoring drives to close out the first half and setting New Orleans up for another one had it not been for a missed field goal. Rattler was efficient but pedestrian, with his eight completions netting just 42 yards. He also took a pair of sacks, one of which resulted in a lost fumble inside his own 10yard line. The difference in their performance was stark enough for coach Kellen Moore to field questions after the game about whether he may have to rethink the order of his quarterback depth chart. “We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll continue to get these guys all these different reps. I think the world of our quarterback room. At the

ä See SAINTS, page 6C

The New Orleans Saints kicked off the 60th season in franchise history Saturday with an exhibition game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The game itself — a mostly forgettable 24-20 Jacksonville win — was less notable than the aura that suffused it. A new vibe, one filled with hope and optimism, accompanies this Saints team, and it was tangible on the sidelines and in the stands at the Caesars Superdome. Jeff In the end, the Saints fell Duncan one play and 2 yard shorts of completing a last-second comeback win, but the final score did little to diminish the positive energy and momentum the Saints are feeling these days. “It was the first game for a lot of our younger players, and our message before the game was, ‘Go for it,’ ” coach Kellen Moore said. “It was a fun game. We started off fast and we had an opportunity at the end. I love the way our guys competed. A really good battle for our guys.” The fresh vibe and new direction were apparent before kickoff as Tyler Shough took over the duty of leading the Saints’ pregame huddle, cementing his status as the team’s unequivocal leader in his second season. The pregame chant wasn’t the only thing new. The club’s game-day operations staff rolled out a new hype video along with a discounted menu at the concession stands. There was even a new group of faces in the team’s cheer crew. Likewise, there were also a lot of new faces on the field, as the Saints elected to rest most of their regulars so Moore and staff could get an extended look at their backups. One of those new faces, Ty Chandler, got the party started early with an 86-yard return of the opening kickoff. Seconds later, Audric Estime was skirting around left end for a 9-yard touchdown run, and “Stand Up and Get Crunk” was pulsing through the Superdome sound system.

ä See DUNCAN, page 6C

STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE

Saints cornerback Jayden Price, right, intercepts a ball intended for Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver CJ Williams, left, on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome.

No. 5 has deep roots in Pickett family

KOKI RILEY ä Scott Rabalais: Daniels commits unforced Cornerback’s BY Staff writer error in No. 5 squabble. PAGE 4C jersey choice The committee had just begun a new session “And we basically sat my brother down and its youngest member. has nothing with In the Pickett family, wearing the No. 5 told him, ‘Yo, we need to see a championship, just a tradition; it’s a promise to uphold conference championship or something. You to do with isn’t a standard of athletic excellence. And though need to keep this going.’ ” A championship standard. That’s what the No. Jonathan, 14, is only in middle school, his older former LSU brothers DJ and Jaylen wanted to remind him 5 has meant to the Pickett family since Jaylen, now 28, started wearing the number when he what the jersey means to their household. quarterback The committee itself — made up of Pickett was in eighth grade. DJ, a sophomore cornerback at LSU, was no siblings who wear the number — is an inside within the family. The panel doesn’t have older than 5 when he started donning his older Daniels joke the jurisdictional power to strip or bar kin- brother’s number. He didn’t wear it last season

LSU cornerback DJ Pickett

STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON

folk from wearing the number. But what isn’t a laughing matter is the high bar the number represents. “Something I mess with my brother Jonathan about is he hasn’t won a Super Bowl,” Jaylen said. “And me and DJ, when he came to town recently, we were like, ‘Hey man, we need to have a committee meeting.’

as a freshman with the Tigers, but the Freshman All-SEC selection changed his number from No. 3 to No. 5 once LSU began preseason camp Aug. 5. But little did he know that a simple jersey swap would create such controversy.

ä See PICKETT, page 4C

2C ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

lll

IN BRIEF

BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS On TV AUTO RACING 7:30 a.m. NTT IndyCar Series FS1 9 a.m. Motocross Championship CBSSN 11 a.m. NTT IndyCar Series FOX BEACH VOLLEYBALL noon Manhattan Beach Open CBSSN 3 p.m. Manhattan Beach Open CW WOMEN’S COLLEGE SOCCER 11 a.m. Ohio St. at Clemson ACCN FISHING 7 a.m. Bassmaster Elite Series FS1 GOLF 11 a.m. St. Jude Championship GOLF 1 p.m. St. Jude Championship CBS

1 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m.

LPGA: Portland Classic USGA: U.S.Amateur USGA: U.S.Amateur PGA: Boeing Classic HORSE RACING noon Saratoga Live MEN’S LACROSSE noon Maryland at Philadelphia MLB 11 a.m. Baltimore at Tampa Bay 12:30 p.m.N.y.yankees at Toronto 2 p.m. St. Louis at Chicago Cubs 6 p.m. Seattle at Houston RODEO 11 a.m. PBR: Team Series 12:30 p.m.PBR: Team Series

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

GOLF NBCSN NBC GOLF FS1 ABC NBCSN MLBN ABC NBC CBS CW

MEN’S SOCCER 8:55 a.m. Arsenal vs. Manchester City ESPN 10 a.m. West Ham United at Burnley CBSSN 2:15 p.m. Mantova at Lazio CBSSN 6 p.m. Richmond at Omaha CBSSN WOMEN’S SOCCER 8 p.m. Washington at Angel City ESPN SOFTBALL 7 p.m. Team Brown vs.Team Klinger MLBN SWIMMING 1 p.m. Pan Pacific Championships NBC TENNIS 10 a.m. Cincinnati-ATP/WTA TENNIS WNBA 4 p.m. Indiana at Atlanta ESPN 6 p.m. Portland at Phoenix ESPN

These games hold most intrigue for Pels The NBA released its schedule for the 2026-27 season on Thursday. The New Orleans Pelicans will look to rebound after back-to-back seasons of winning less than 30 games. Here are the 10 Rod most intriguing Walker games on the Pelicans’ schedule.

Oct. 31: Hawks at Pels As crazy as it may sound, CJ McCollum has yet to play a game in the Smoothie King Center since being traded from the Pelicans to the Washington Wizards after the 2024-25 season. McCollum is now with the Hawks (along with former Pels players Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Buddy Hield). McCollum ﬁnally gets his tribute video.

STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER

San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, center, holds the ball in front of New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, left, and Pelicans forward Trey Murphy, right, during a game at the Smoothie King Center on Oct. 24. the Big Apple to the Big Easy. It’ll be Jose Alvarado’s ﬁrst game in the Smoothie King Center as a member of another team. Expect the fan favorite to get lots of love in his ﬁrst game in New Orleans since being traded in February.

Jan. 14: Pels vs. Spurs

The Pelicans, like the Saints, will play a game in Paris. While Nov. 20: Pels at Thunder New Orleans is a city with deep There is no team that has had French roots, the crowd at the its way with the Pelicans quite Accor Center will be heavily prolike Oklahoma City. The Pelicans Spurs. The Spurs, who reached have lost their last 13 games the NBA Finals last season, are against the Thunder. That in- led by French superstar Victor cludes the first-round sweep in Wembanyama. the playoffs in 2024. The Thunder will once again be among Jan. 28: 76ers at Pels the favorites to win it all in June. The 76ers will be one of the This is the Pelicans first chance league’s most watched teams to end their skid against a team now that they have added LeBthey haven’t defeated since No- ron James and Jaylen Brown to their roster. The lineup of James, vember 2023. Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese MaxDec. 16: Knicks at Pels ey and VJ Edgecombe is one of The NBA champion Knicks, the most star-studded lineups fresh off winning their first title the NBA has ever seen. LeBron since 1973, make the trip from signed a two-year deal, so this

isn’t expected to be his last ever first glimpse of a different roster. game in New Orleans. But you can expect the Smoothie King Feb. 14: Clippers at Pels Center (and every other arena in This isn’t just Valentine’s Day; the league) to be buzzing when- it’s also Super Bowl Sunday. It’s a 1 p.m. tipoff, so fans will have a ever the Sixers show up. chance to catch the Pels and then Feb. 2: Pels at Magic get home in time for the Super Mosley returns to Orlando to Bowl. Obviously, this gets a little face the Magic team that he was more interesting if the Saints are in charge of for the previous five in Inglewood, California, playing seasons. Mosley had plenty of in the NFL’s big game. success against the Pels when he was with the Magic, with Orlando April 11: Bulls at Pels winning nine consecutive games The past two season finales against New Orleans. Can Mos- have been irrelevant. The Peliley flip the script now that he’s on cans’ playoff hopes had been the other side and give the Pels dashed long before getting to their first win over the Magic the second week in April. Will since December 2021? this year be different? Will the Pelicans be jockeying for playoff Feb. 12: Rockets at Pels position or at least a spot in the Kevin Durant and the Houston play-in tournament at season’s Rockets come to the Smoothie end? If they are, then consider King Center the day after the this season a success. If not, Feb. 11 trade deadline. Will the surely major roster changes will Pelicans make a move and shake follow. things up at the deadline like they did last season with the Alvarado Email Rod Walker at trade? If they do, this will be the rwalker@theadvocate.com.

WNBA icons say discourse is a part of success BY DOUG FEINBERG AP basketball writer

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — During this Hall of Fame weekend, nearly everyone would like the attention to be on basketball, but it’s difﬁcult to ignore the conversations that are swirling around the WNBA — especially with some of the league’s greatest icons being enshrined. The ongoing vitriol centered around race, gender and sexuality makes for daily headlines. They are part of an undertone to fouls and physicality that have come with the evolution of women’s skills, all of which overshadow the impressive play that can be seen during the WNBA’s 30th year. Hall of Famer Dawn Staley, who is getting inducted again Saturday with the 1996 Olympic women’s basketball team, sees a positive side to the negativity. Staley said there are similar parallels between what the WNBA is going through and what the NBA went through in the early stages of its growth. “All the big pieces and all the things that are happening from a racial standpoint, from an officiating standpoint are great. They’re great because the NBA went through it — the NBA went through all of it,” she said. “So this is just badges of honor. Will we get through it? We will get through it.” What the NBA had to deal with was who could play in the league.

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona Cardinals rookie running back Jeremiyah Love will not practice this week because of a sore ankle. Love — the No. 3 overall draft pick out of Notre Dame — hurt the ankle during the team’s preseason 27-14 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday. Love was impressive in his debut, running for 58 yards on 11 carries. The Cardinals do have considerable depth at running back with James Conner, Tyler Allgeier, Trey Benson and Bam Knight on the roster. Benson is dealing with a left knee injury while Conner is coming back from a foot injury that caused him to miss most of last season. Also Saturday, the Cardinals put rookie guard Chase Bisontis on injured reserve, ending his season.

Blue Jays place All-Star Guerrero on injured list

Oct. 21: Pacers at Pels The Jamahl Mosley era begins in the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans lost last season’s season opener on the road against the Memphis Grizzlies. Prior to that loss, the Pels had won their previous three openers. Can Mosley get the team off to a good start and win his Pelicans’ debut? For what it’s worth, Mosley won his last three season openers in Orlando. Tyrese Haliburton, who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles, is expected to make his return for Indiana.

Cardinals rookie RB Love to miss a week of practice

It was an all-white league when it was launched and there was resistance to integration. The WNBA has been hit lately with a narrative on whether transgender women — people assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to play in the league. There has never been one. There have been players in the league who were assigned female at birth and later came out as transgender or nonbinary. Polarizing views have become a major topic of conversation. WNBA players’ union president Nneka Ogwumike said she feels awful for the transgender fans who have supported the league for so many years. “It really breaks my heart to think about how these conversations may be affecting people who have supported us for so long,” she said.

Making a point WNBA players have used their platform to engage in social and political discussions, but Ogwumike believes there is an underlying agenda to the off-court questions players are constantly being asked about. “It’s super unfortunate because we’re now in a time where I think there’s a lot of different agendas that are being used for something perhaps bigger and broader that people can’t see now that they’re using women’s sports for,” Ogwumike said. “It’s

very concerning, but what I really do hate is that we are using a very nuanced conversation — and evolving conversation — to continue to marginalize these groups that we advocate for.” Ogwumike understands the tough balance that’s going on with the news media and on social media. “Even something as simple as you guys asking actual basketball questions. I think it’s very helpful,” she said. “I think it’s a very delicate line for me because it’s like, OK, you know, we want to act like your job is to cover this game, you know, and our job as athletes is to play it and to also give you what we can. But then it’s also like do I want to seem insensitive by not talking about the things that are going on?” Staley agrees that it’s unfortunate that all the great things happening on the court are put on the backburner in discussions. “It’s an incredible product that we’re missing out on because we got distractions every time,” she said. “There’s something great happening, there are always distractions placed in your life, but you got to be able to handle them.”

Vitriol can’t be ignored There are so many more eyeballs on the WNBA now, with viewership 17% higher than last season’s record-setting year. Attendance is also strong again this season. Not all attention is good, though.

As the league continues to grow in popularity, social media attacks directed at players have skyrocketed and betting on the sport also has increased. “I think it was more swept under the rug in the past, but now it’s not because you can’t,” Hall of Fame inductee Candace Parker said of the personal and threatening comments directed at players. “We can’t tell every player to just deal with it. That’s not how it works. I know I’m proud that some people think that they’re anonymous when they make comments online and they’re ﬁnding out that they’re not. There are going to be repercussions. “Unfortunately, that’s the climate in our country right now, to be honest with you. And I think women always feel it more and it’s always been that way, from top to bottom.” Chamique Holdsclaw said she had disagreements with teammates during her WNBA days from 1999-2010, but those were kept in the locker room and not brought out on social media, which was in its infancy. “I’ve had teammates that I may not agree with their politics or beliefs,” Holdsclaw said, “but we all know that as long as the locker room is good, we’re good.” There isn’t much kept in the locker room in today’s WNBA, or any sports league, and leagues are coping with the repercussions of those public discussions.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays put six-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the seven-day IL Saturday because of concussion symptoms and selected outfielder Daz Cameron from Triple-A Buffalo. To make room on the 40-man roster, right-hander Lazaro Estrada was designated for assignment. Also Saturday, Toronto recalled left-hander Ricky Tiedemann from Buffalo and optioned right-hander Chase Lee to Triple-A. Guerrero left Friday’s 3-1 victory over the Yankees following a collision with New York rookie shortstop George Lombard on a chaotic play at third base in the sixth inning. Lombard was trying to leap over a sliding Guerrero at third base when his knee and thigh struck Guerrero’s head.

Yankees OF Judge plays catch for first time during rehab

TORONTO — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge played catch in New York on Friday as he continues working toward a return from a broken right rib. “Just part of the ramp-up to baseball activity,” manager Aaron Boone said of Judge before Saturday’s game against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Judge hasn’t played since May 31, but the three-time AL MVP and eight-time All-Star has said he intends to return this season. He was cleared to begin light workout activity on Aug. 5. Boone spoke to Judge and said the slugger responded well to throwing for the ﬁrst time in his rehab. However, Boone didn’t know when Judge might be ready to rejoin the Yankees.

Seahawks, CB Witherspoon agree to four-year deal

SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks and cornerback Devon Witherspoon have agreed to a four-year, $132 million contract extension, with $101 million guaranteed, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday. On March 26, the Seahawks exercised their ﬁfth-year option on Witherspoon, but elected to sign him to a long-term deal on the same day they started preseason play against the Dallas Cowboys. Witherspoon, 25, was selected No. 5 overall by the Seahawks in the 2023 draft. In the same round of that draft, the Seahawks selected wide receiver Jaxon SmithNjigba, who in March agreed to a four-year, $168.8 million contract with $120 million guaranteed.

Dodgers’ Ohtani will throw another bullpen session

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani will throw another bullpen session following a successful outing on Friday as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ two-way superstar works his way back from a left knee injury that has kept him from pitching since July 3. If Ohtani makes it through that workout without issue, he would likely progress to throwing batting practice, manager Dave Roberts said Saturday. Ohtani threw before the Dodgers’ 3-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday night. Ohtani had lubricant injected into his left knee on July 12, keeping him out of the All-Star Game. He is 8-2 on the mound this season with a 1.79 ERA and 95 strikeouts in 852/3 innings, to go along with a .290 batting average, 27 homers and 74 RBIs in 113 games.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ 3C

Tulane offense starts rolling late lll

QB Chriss-Gremillion’s legs shine in scrimmage

BY GUERRY SMITH Contributing writer

Zeon Chriss-Gremillion fooled defensive back Kajuan Banks completely with a fake pitch, cut up the field and cruised for a 9-yard touchdown run on the final play of Tulane’s scrimmage Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium. He then fired the ball into the back wall of the end zone as he celebrated the decisive score in the drill that coach Will Hall calls red-zone lockdown. If Chriss-Gremillion locks down the starting job in the Green Wave’s four-way quarterback competition, his superior running ability could be the difference-maker. It certainly was the separator on Saturday, when his two touchdowns in the red-zone drill were the only ones of the day for the offense. “That’s a big factor in the game,” he said. “You see guys like Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes, being able to extend plays brings value to the team because things will break down and you have to be able to respond and make plays.” The offense made few in the regular portion of the scrimmage, which was conducted in two separate segments within a normal practice. With each drive starting at the offense’s 22-yard line, seven possessions and 37 plays produced zero points. The ground game went next to nowhere, including when safety Jack Tchienchou made a textbook open-field tackle on elusive running back Jaylin Lucas. The defense registered three sacks, including one from linebacker Dickson Agu on a blitz. The quarterbacks combined

today,” he said. “My eyes were right in a lot of situations. A couple things were out of my control and a couple things I could have done a little better.” Chriss-Gremillion needed six plays to get the offense a touchdown at the start of the red-zone session, scoring from 1 yard out after completing his lone pass to Brown-Stephens for 9 yards. The offense settled for a 34-yard Jackson Courville field goal in Bruno’s series and a 37-yarder by Courville on Semonza’s possession. Johnson was victimized by Roberts’ drop of an improvised lateral. When Roberts did not try to retrieve the ball, safety Chase Green picked it up and ran for what the defense thought was a touchdown, although the whistle blew early to kill the return. “I didn’t play as good as I wanted to,” Johnson said. “I operated well pre-snap, but there are definitely some things I’d like to have back.” Chriss-Gremillion capped the day with his nifty keeper. “All you have to do is put the STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER tape on and see at Houston and Tulane quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion prepares to throw the ball at practice on Aug. 7 at yulman Stadium. Louisiana-Lafayette how dynamic he is running the ball,” to go 7 of 15 with two comple- Bruno played primarily with (quarterbacks were off limits Hall said. “Even when he’s not tions of more than 12 yards — a backups against reserves. for contact) when Semonza held live (allowed to be hit), you can see the burst. You can feel him 24-yarder from freshman Trace During the opening series, the ball too long. Johnson to tight end Cameron Chriss-Gremillion threw deep Semonza’s next series, which when he runs.” Roberts and a 29-yarder from for Anthony Brown-Stephens came after one by Bruno, Kadin Semonza to wideout but was off target before Mau- reached the defense’s 49 before Lagniappe Destyn Hill when Hill lost nick- rice Turner was stuffed in the defensive tackle Derrick ShepaThe offense played without backfield on third down. rd deflected a second-down pass running back Jamauri McClure elback TJ Smith. Up next, Johnson moved the and a miscommunication with (fractured foot), left guard Eli“Our D had great juice early on, and our offense bounced offense to the defense’s 27 with a receiver sabotaged the third- jah Baker (lower-leg injury), back and made some plays there a pair of completions before down throw. tight end Ty Thompson (ham“I’m just controlling what I string) and wide receiver Garlate,” Hall said. “It was great underthrowing a deep ball. He back and forth, which is what was pressured into a throw- can,” Semonza said. “I’m going rett Mmahat (undisclosed injuyou want. You don’t want one away on third down, and Cooper out there having fun doing what ry). … Hall said the timeline for side dominating the other side.” Helmke’s 45-yard field goal went I love.” Baker’s return is undetermined. Bruno did not produce a first Redshirt freshman Gresham Chriss-Gremillion, who start- wide left. Semonza entered, scrambling down in his two series. He com- Perry replaced him with the ed seven games at UL and seven more at Houston in previous for a big gain on the first snap. pleted 2 of 3 passes, including first unit. … Hall said he would stops, and Semonza, who started He also hit tight end Dawson an 8-yarder, but a quick whistle release a full depth chart for the every game at Ball State in 2024, Johnson for 12 yards, but the on a third-down keeper and blitz Sept. 5 opener against Duke on operated with the first-team of- drive ended with an underthrow on third and short stymied both Aug. 24. … The Wave will be off Sunday before conducting pracfense against the first-team into double coverage that near- possessions. “I felt like I was pretty good tice No. 10 of camp Monday. defense. Johnson and Dagan ly was intercepted and a “sack”

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PRE VIEW n DISTRICT 10-1A

Old-school mindset

St. Martin’s LB wishes he could have played in dad’s era BY CHRISTOPHER DABE

Staff writer

St. Martin’s middle linebacker Gabe Savarese has seen enough video of his father playing football for John Curtis Christian in the 1990s to wish he could travel back in time. Doing so would put him in another era of football. “Back then, you could really hit people,” Savarese said. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior prides himself on being a downhill tackler capable of colliding with the ballcarrier as he reaches the line of scrimmage. Savarese has played linebacker since he was 6 years old, including the past three seasons at St. Martin’s. He ﬁnished his junior season with 131 total tackles, including 88 solo stops and nine tackles for loss. He has 279 career tackles, plus four forced fumbles and two interceptions. “He has that old-school, downhill linebacker mentality,” said Gabe’s father, Brian, who likened Gabe’s approach to how he remembered Mike Singletary and Zach Thomas during their Pro Football Hall of Fame careers. Gabe patterns his game after former LSU linebacker and seven-year NFL veteran Devin White. He’s the reason Gabe

wears No. 40. “My grandpa is a big LSU fan, so I grew up watching them, and he stood out,” Gabe said. “He was able to fly around the field. Not afraid of contact.” One of Savarese’s bigger plays on defense was a fourth-and-1 stop against Patrick Taylor when he “blitzed up the middle and made a tackle for no gain,” said Brian, a linebackers coach for St. Martin’s. “We got the ball and scored to go ahead.” Savarese St. Martin’s coach Kevin Dizer believes Gabe would have fit in during the 1990s — but with one change. “He might have been a fullback running the dive,” Dizer said. “He might have been the one getting hit.” Dizer has put Savarese in the backfield on some two-point and short-yardage situations. Against West St. John last season, he “broke about 10 tackles to get 2 yards” on a play when “we didn’t block anybody,” Dizer said with a laugh. Since last season, Savarese has put in the work to get quicker. He is roughly 25 pounds lighter but stronger than he was when last season began. He spent the summer training with defensive backs to improve his pass coverage skills. Some

training included backpedal runs up a levee. Savarese is part of a defense that has multiple seniors in the starting lineup. Among others are outside linebackers Ethan Williams and Carter Furman, plus two-way lineman Destin Brooks. Cooper Wakeﬁeld and Kade Vinju are in the secondary while also playing wide receiver. Savarese, also a catcher on the baseball team, hopes to play football in college. He has NCAA Division II offers from Arkansas-Monticello, Henderson State and the University of Charleston in West Virginia. Early in high school, Savarese regularly went against one of the top-ranked running backs in the country during practice. He faced former St. Martin’s running back Harlem Berry, now at LSU, in many one-on-one drills. “He certainly never backed down from a challenge,” Dizer said. Savarese learned plenty about football from his father, who played safety and outside linebacker at Curtis. But not everything from those old VHS cassettes is appealing. “The shoulder pads were bigger,” Brian said. “He jokes about that.” Contact Christopher Dabe at cdabe@theadvocate.com

5 THINGS TO KNOW 1. LHSAA redistricting put recent state champions Riverside (2025) and South Plaquemines (2024) in the same district. Riverside and Ascension Catholic, another district newcomer, will meet in Week 8 in a 2025 title-game rematch. 2. Riverside has reached the state championship in two of the past three seasons. The Rebels lost to Southern Lab in 2023 before last season’s triumph against Ascension STAFF FILE PHOTO By BRETT DUKE Catholic. Riverside celebrates after defeating Ascension Catholic in the 3. Returning LSWA all-state Division IV select state championship game on Dec. 11 at the players include Riverside Caesars Superdome. defensive tackle Ahmad Cage

(79 tackles, seven sacks) and South Plaquemines defensive back Sabryn Bartholomew (24 pass breakups). Cage is a twotime all-state selection. 4. Ascension Catholic is looking to replace Trevin Simon’s production after he set state rushing records for yards (3,915) and touchdowns (58) in coach Taylor James’ first season. Run options are dualthreat quarterback Gregory Fernandez and running back Caden Mays. 5. Ascension Christian, 6-5 overall and 3-2 in 8-1A last season, is not playing for district honors.

LOOKING BACK

Riverside Last year: 12-1 (state champion), 3-0 in 10-1A Ascension Catholic Last year: 11-3 (state runner-up), 5-0 in 8-1A South Plaquemines Last year: 9-3 (semifinals), 3-1 in 10-2A St. Martin’s Last year: 6-5 (first round), 3-1 in 10-2A West St. John Last year: 5-6 (second round), 2-2 in 10-2A

FIVE PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kalon Gardner RB/DB | West St. John, Jr. Has ambitions of reaching 2,000 yards on offense after he surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the second year in a row. The two-time all-district pick also plays full-time on defense. “He won’t be able to come off the field,” coach Derron Thomas said. Kenric Johnson QB | Riverside, Jr. The LSWA all-state receiver with 57 catches and 1,245 yards from scrimmage last season moves to quarterback in place of graduated three-year starter Brock Bourgeois. Johnson has played in the state finals twice, including as an eighth grader when he threw a touchdown pass. Jacob Julien DB/ATH | Ascension Catholic, Sr. The returning all-district defensive back also has big-play ability on offense. A Wildcat direct-snap option on offense, he can run and catch passes. Gabe Savarese LB | St. Martin’s, Sr. The four-year starter with 279 career tackles has put more emphasis during the summer on improving his pass coverage skills. Savarese (5-11, 205 pounds) lost roughly 25 pounds since the start of last season to get quicker while also getting stronger. Eyan Taylor QB | South Plaquemines, Fr. A do-everything eighth grader last season, Taylor moves to quarterback in place of graduated five-year starter Roderick Parker. He had more than 1,200 yards and 16 touchdowns from scrimmage, plus three punt return scores last season.

4C ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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No. 5 quarrel subtracts from Daniels’ reputation I don’t know whether Jayden Daniels ever stepped on an ant hill on the practice ﬁeld while he was at LSU, but he certainly kicked one over last week. The former LSU Heisman Trophy winner and now Washington Commanders quarterback and/ or his team (not the Commanders) sent LSU a ceaseand-desist letter demanding the school stop using his name, image and likeness. Why? Because the school issued Scott No. 5 to current Rabalais the Tigers sophomore cornerback DJ Pickett for this season. The number is the one Daniels wore during his two seasons at LSU, seasons capped by his remarkable 2023 season in which he won the Heisman. He doesn’t own the number, though, just like he doesn’t own the copy of the Heisman Trophy LSU got and that he now apparently wants to go to his high school. The trophy still was displayed Friday in the lobby of the LSU football complex. And the No. 5 is still on Pickett’s jersey. All Daniels has earned from this episode is widespread scorn and heaps of jokes at his expense. A

PICKETT

Continued from page 1C

Daniels’ reaction On Wednesday, ESPN reported that Washington Commanders quarterback and former LSU star Jayden Daniels sent a cease-anddesist letter to LSU on Aug. 5, informing the school that it could no longer use his name, image and likeness. The letter is the result of LSU allowing Pickett to wear No. 5, the same jersey Daniels wore during his two seasons in Baton Rouge. The number has not been retired, but no LSU player has worn it since Daniels won the Heisman Trophy in his second year with the program in 2023. LSU declined to comment on the matter Thursday. In a statement to ESPN, a spokesperson for Daniels said the “family is deeply disappointed and feels profoundly disrespected by LSU’s decision to give Jayden’s number to another player.” DJ shared his perspective on the situation with reporters on Thursday, saying: “I’ve been wearing the number my whole life, since I was 4 years old. That was the number I was promised. I wish Jayden the best. Good player, he did real good here.” Pickett’s father, Damien, told The Advocate on Thursday that DJ does not plan on changing his number, adding that LSU had not told the family he could no longer wear it. “Honestly, man, this right here makes us want to wear the number more,” Damien said. “LSU has not said anything to us about the number, about us being able to wear the number. Coach (Lane Kiffin) has been in full support of my son through this process.” When asked about the jersey swap, Kiffin told the media last week a promise was made to Pickett during the former five-star prospect’s recruitment that he could wear the number at LSU. That pledge was made under coach Brian Kelly’s regime, not Kiffin’s. Kelly told ESPN that the number was promised to Pickett during his recruitment, but he decided against giving it to him because Daniels didn’t approve. Damien told The Advocate that the family asked the four finalists in DJ’s recruitment — LSU, Oregon, Miami and Georgia — whether DJ could have the number, and each school had no issue with him wearing the jersey. But once DJ’s freshman year began, Damien suspected that acquiring the jersey could be an issue. He said the family doesn’t appreciate how Kelly and his staff handled the situation, believing that their lack of transparency contributed to the family finding itself in the middle of this controversy.

talented, apparently affable young man has become a meme with countless derogatory references on social media and in the media to his surprising act. Father Michael Alello of St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge posted on X that the church was changing 5:30 p.m. Mass to 6:30 p.m. and that the ﬁfth commandment was under further review. Former NFL star Chad Ochocinco said Daniels needs to move on and focus on his role as an NFL starting quarterback. When a priest and a guy who literally changed his name to a number aren’t on your side, you’re losing. Allow me to tick off a few observations if I may: n While the court of public opinion is, like Daniels’ cease-anddesist letter, not legally binding — and though he has his supporters — overall his reputation has been greatly damaged by this episode. Either Daniels got bad advice — a lot of ﬁngers are being pointed at his helicopter mom and agent Regina Jackson — or he is just being petulant about the whole thing. Since he displayed no such character traits in his time at LSU, I’ll default to the bad advice theory. On top of being turned into a national laughingstock over this, Daniels comes off looking like he’s not

“If we would have been told during our recruiting process and they had said, ‘Hey, No. 5 is not being issued. We can’t promise you No. 5, but we can talk to Jayden and see what Jayden has to say. If he gives his blessing, he does. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t,’ (we would have) moved forward,” ‘ Damien said. “If we were to have had a situation like that, it probably would not have blown up like this.” According to Damien, his son’s wish to wear Daniels’ jersey is not meant as a sign of disrespect toward the quarterback and what he accomplished at LSU. DJ wearing No. 5 is personal; the number is tattooed on his left arm. “He never looked at the number like, ‘Oh, I want to wear five because of X, Y and Z,’ ” Damien said. “ ‘The only reason I wear this number is because of my family, because of my brother, because of what we do, because of what I do.’ ”

History of No. 5 Both DJ and Jaylen were football stars at Zephyrhills High in Zephyrhills, Florida. Jaylen went on to play four seasons at Eastern Michigan, while DJ was the No. 11 player and No. 2 cornerback in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite, when LSU landed him. Before either Pickett wore the No. 5 and starred at Zephyrhills, their father also played at the school but wore No. 12. The Pickett family had developed a reputation for gridiron excellence in the Florida town years before Jayden and DJ began their careers. Their uncle, Ryan, played 14 seasons in the NFL and won a Super Bowl with the Green Bay Packers in 2011. When he began his football career, Jaylen wore No. 12 in honor of his father. But for as much as he looked up to him, he also wanted to carve out his own path. That’s how he decided to start wearing the No. 5 instead, in part as an ode to Reggie Bush — the star Southern Cal running back was his favorite player growing up — but mostly as a way to start his own legacy. “I had started to get comparisons to my father,” Jaylen said. “And something I told myself was, ‘I want to be like my dad, but I also want to make a name for myself.’ ” What Jaylen couldn’t have anticipated was that his siblings eagerly would follow in his footsteps. Besides DJ and Jonathan, four sisters and two cousins either wear the No. 5 or want to. Janet, 16, dons the jersey for her high school basketball team. Jaz wears the number on her high school dance team. Maya, now 21, wore it in high school while earning scholarship offers in three different sports: basketball, track and volleyball. “She deﬁnitely has the argument for best athlete in the household,” Jaylen said. “Maya has it because she

focused on his job as Washington’s starting quarterback in the middle of training camp. Daniels did not play Friday in the Commanders’ 20-7 preseason win over Miami and did not speak to reporters in Washington afterward. n Team Jayden has a point in all of this: His number is being treated differently than the No. 9 worn by 2019 Heisman winner Joe Burrow. No LSU player has worn No. 9 since Burrow left LSU in January 2020, the national championship trophy in one hand and a victory cigar in the other. LSU has made it clear it is no longer in the business of retiring football numbers and has not except for Billy Cannon’s No. 20 after he played his last game in the 1960 Sugar Bowl. Burrow said last week he was told by LSU that his number wouldn’t be used again. The school should have a more consistent policy about using or not using numbers of highly accomplished players. n The anti-Lane Kifﬁn crowd will use his decision to let Pickett wear No. 5 as promised as another opportunity to bash him. That’s wrong. He made the right decision, especially if it turns out that keeping Pickett out of the transfer portal meant giving him the number. LSU may permanently lose the beneﬁt of Daniels’ goodwill and

has offers in three different sports, and DJ had offers in two. I only had offers in football.” As the oldest of 11, Jaylen has in some ways become a parental figure for his younger siblings. That’s certainly been the case with DJ, who would sometimes stay at Jaylen’s house for three weeks at a time during the summer when he was in high school. One morning, while DJ was staying with Jaylen, he missed a summer workout because a teammate — who lived in the area and usually drove him to sessions — didn’t pick him up from the house. Instead of giving DJ the morning off, Jaylen made his brother work out with him. He didn’t go easy on the future LSU cornerback. “He ended up throwing up that day,” Jaylen said. “And I definitely had a conversation with him like, you would rather do your school workouts than pull that stunt. “It was almost in a sense, like, you’re not going to have the perception, especially to our father, that you’re going to come over here and just hang out and not handle your business.” DJ, an eighth grader at the time, wasn’t happy with his brother that day. But he had learned a valuable lesson, and Jaylen had fulfilled his duty as a role model. “I wasn’t perfect. I had my hiccups in high school, had my fun in college,” Jaylen said. “But I just wanted to balance that out. It was in a sense of, like, we (as siblings) can have our own accountability.” Since that day, Jaylen hasn’t seen his brother trip up once as he’s ascended to the top of the LSU cornerback depth chart. Jaylen plans on attending at least four LSU games this season. That’s when he’ll be able to watch his brother continue the No. 5 legacy underneath the bright lights of Tiger Stadium. “I think DJ’s done a lot more for the No. 5 than I ever could have imagined, even to the point where kids are looking up to him, wanting to wear No. 5, that aren’t even related to us,” Jaylen said. “It (started) with just our siblings, but now it’s on a national level.” Wednesday’s news made sure it would stay that way, turning a tale about family pride into a narrative about cease-and-desist letters and NIL. But this latest development in the story was never part of the Pickett family’s plans. DJ wears the number to honor his brother and family, not to follow in the footsteps of an LSU legend. No committee is needed to find that truth. “We never thought it would come to something like this,” Damien said. “We never looked at it as being an issue. “Jayden has his legacy. That’s the last thing we want to try and take away from him.”

ability to tout him to future prospects, but Kiffin has to side with his current player. How could he have done otherwise? What if he didn’t and it came to light that Pickett transferred over not getting the number? n I can’t find blame with Pickett in this situation. He said he’s worn No. 5 since he was 4 years old, so not surprisingly he wanted it again. Frankly, Daniels should be flattered to share the number with such a talented player. Pickett was a five-star high school recruit, a freshman All-American in 2025, a second-team preseason All-Southeastern Conference pick at SEC media days and likely will play in the NFL himself. It isn’t as if LSU decided to give No. 5 to some random walk-on. In 2020, I wrote a book called “LSU By the Numbers” (shameless plug), choosing the best Tiger who wore each number in program history, 1-99. My No. 5 was two-time All-American Skyler Green. As great as Green was, if I revised the book I’d have to pick Daniels, who would deserve that honor as much as he deserved the Heisman three years ago. I don’t believe most of us understand just what a number means to a lot of athletes, how big a part of their identity it is.

“Your number means a lot,” LSU great Marcus Spears (No. 84) said in the forward for my book. “For a lot of guys, it’s the number you had since little league. Guys put a lot of pride in it. It matters.” Pickett is far from the ﬁrst LSU player, or player anywhere, to be promised his special number while being recruited. “In recruiting, they promise you everything,” LSU All-SEC quarterback Rohan Davey (No. 6) told me. “ ‘Can I get 6?’ ‘Of course!’ ” Davey arrived at LSU and found another quarterback, Bryan Sparacino, had the number. “I went up to him and was like, ‘I’ve got to get 6 from you, Sparky.’ He looked at me like, ‘Who the hell is this freshman?’ ” Davey got the number. So did Pickett. Daniels should make amends with LSU and take to heart something another LSU great said last week. “I know Joe’s (number) hasn’t been worn, but somebody will wear it,” Leonard Fournette (No. 7) said. “I promise you, no player is bigger than the brand. No player is bigger than the LSU brand.” For more LSU sports updates, sign up for our newsletter at theadvocate.com/lsunewsletter

Scheffler builds a two-shot lead in St. Jude Championship BY DOUG FERGUSON AP golf writer

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Scottie Scheffler settled in after a rough start Saturday for a 2-under 68, giving him a twoshot lead over Sam Burns and Sungjae Im in the FedEx St. Jude Championship going into a final round where so much is at stake from the top to the bottom of the leaderboard. Scheffler is trying to break a streak of five runner-up finishes and five other top 4s since his lone victory this year in his first tournament of 2026. He was at 13-under 197 and will be in the final group with Burns, his closest friend in golf, who got back into the mix with a 62. His year has been marked by close calls in the U.S. Open and British Open, but Burns has no victories to show for it. This will be the first time they are paired together in the final group. “It’s always a little weird just because I want him to have success so much and I think he wants the same for me,” Scheffler said. “Tomorrow we’ll go out there and play our game and see where things finish up at the end of the day. It will be competition like normal.” And it’s not just the two of them. Im shot 67 and was tied with Burns at 11-under 199. The next closest to Scheffler was FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood (68) and Jake Knapp (67), both five shots behind. Jordan Spieth took another step back and gave himself another Sunday at the TPC

AP PHOTO By GEORGE WALKER IV

Sam Burns hits from the rough on the 17th hole during the third round of the St. Jude Championship on Saturday in Memphis, Tenn.

Southwind filled with high stress. Spieth is at No. 54 in the FedEx Cup, and only the top 50 advance to the BMW Championship next week in the FedEx Cup playoffs. The top 50 is the magic number this week because those players are assured to getting into all the $20 million signature events next year. Spieth, who opened with a 65, didn’t make a birdie until the 11th hole in his round of 72 that dropped him from a tie for ﬁfth to a tie for 19th, which is projected to leave him out of the top 50. He’s not alone. Brian Harman came in at No. 65 and shot 69. He was in a tie for sixth, needing to move up a few spots to advance. He at least is in all the majors next year from his 2023 British Open victory at Hoylake. Going into the ﬁnal day, Im is the only player projected to move into the top 50 — he started at No. 53 and held his

own in the final group Saturday with Scheffler. “I just want to focus on each shot,” Im said. “Every shot matters.” Scheffler only hit one green in regulation through the opening five holes. He was in the right rough on the par-5 third and had a clean enough lie to try to reach the green or at least advance it close. But it hit a tree right above him and dropped straight down. He pulled his short iron out of mangled rough to the side of a bunker and still had 111 yards. He hit that to 12 feet and made the par putt. He bogeyed the next from behind the green, didn’t get a birdie until the par-3 eighth and then ran off consecutive birdies early on the back nine that restored his lead. He also made a 12-foot par save on the 15th hole. He was tied for 22nd, along with Maverick McNealy, who was projected at No. 50. Burns is thinking only about winning, and that starts with making up a two-shot deficit on the No. 1 player in the world. The only other time they’ve played together on a Sunday was the 2021 Tour Championship — both out of contention — though Burns did beat Scheffler with a long birdie putt in a playoff at Colonial in 2022. “Scottie is obviously playing great, as he always does. He’s not going to lay down,” Burns said. “He’s going to play great tomorrow. So you’re going to have to go out there and put a really good round together and see if you can catch him.”

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OUTDOORS

Hunters sharing, a big trout and sadness BY JOE MACALUSO

Contributing writer

Something old, something new and something sadly very blue this week. The old is the continuing march of our state’s Hunters for the Notebook Hungry push into the early September start of the hunting seasons. Yep, it’s coming soon, and H4H has scheduled its annual Clean Out Your Freezer Day for Aug. 23 at locations across the southeastern and Acadiana area parishes. This drive is the ﬁrst step in the 30-year-plus push to set its slogan in stone — hunters who care share. It’s a chance to take what’s left from last season’s efforts aﬁeld and put this extra into the hands of folks in food banks and soup kitchens. And, it’s a collection for more than game. Fish and other frozen meats will be accepted at 20 locations from Slidell west to Eunice and most points in between. The fire station on Brightside Drive in Baton Rouge is the newest location. “We’re at a stage where we want to increase awareness of our collection,” H4H director Julie Grunewald said. “We want our outdoorsmen and women to know they can share with the less fortunate among us.” Last year’s 18,500 pounds collected turned into what the receiving organizations like the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank and Second Harvest estimated to be 75,000 meals. The total haul over 30plus years stands at a little more than 570,000 pounds, producing an estimated 2.25 million meals.

CLEAN OUT YOUR FREEZER LOCATIONS Locations for Hunters for the Hungry’s Clean Out your Freezer Day set Sunday,Aug. 23 include: Acadiana: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., benefits The Refinery Mission. Cajun Field, 2351 W. Congress St., Lafayette; Fire Station, 100 Park Ave., Eunice; First Assembly of God Church, 3555 Verot School Road,youngsville; Giles Nissan, 4383 I-49 Service Road, Opelousas Baton Rouge area: 1-4 p.m., benefits the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank. Bass Pro Shops, Range Avenue at I-12, Denham Springs; Bowie Outfitters, 8630 Perkins Road; CCA Louisiana, 12241 Industriplex Blvd.; Cabela’s, Louisiana 30 at Interstate 10, Gonzales; Fire stations, 3150 Brightside Drive and 5758 Claycut, Baton Rouge; 11646 Sullivan Road, Central City; St. George, 7027 Antioch Road, 16415 George

O’Neal Lane and 9214 Jefferson Highway; 4525 Main St., Zachary; The Red Boot Deli, 12430 St. Helena St., Clinton Houma/Thibodaux: 1-4 p.m., benefits Plymouth Rock Baptist Church. Rouses Market, 1410 St. Charles St., Houma; Rouses Market, 204 N. Canal St., Thibodaux. Metairie: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., benefits the Second Harvest Food Bank. Puglia Sporting Goods, 1925 Veterans Memorial Blvd. Slidell: 1-4 p.m., benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. Rouses Market, 1644 Gause Blvd. For locations, dates and times in Lake Charles, Marksville, Monroe, Natchitoches, Pineville, Ruston, Shreveport/ Bossier City and Natchez, Mississippi, go to Hunters for the Hungry’s website: cleanoutyourfreezer.com

The H4H effort continues during the hunting season, accepting donations of freshly taken deer and hogs for processing at locations across the state, and a postdeer season effort called “Hogapalooza.” “It’s a big help, and the organizations we support can’t wait for these donations,” Grunewald said. All the organizers ask is that the donated items be properly labeled.

You also can contribute via a check-off when buying hunting licenses and by personal donations, which help defray the cost of processing deer and hogs into meals.

Joe Macaluso

Big trout The new is a personal record for Brad McAdam, who knows how to beat the heat. He fishes Lake Pontchartrain at night, and what a night it was on Wednesday

PROVIDED PHOTO

Brad McAdam is beating the heat by fishing the bridges in Lake Pontchartrain at night. Not in his wildest angling dreams did he believe the trip he made to the U.S. 11 bridge Wednesday night would produce what he said was “a once-in-a-lifetime” speckled trout, a spotted giant weighing 8.33 pounds. It stands as the leader heading into the closing days of the summer-long S.T.A.R. tournament.

into early Thursday. It started out to be a night, but turned out to be THE night that included some heart-stopping minutes near the U.S. 11 bridge. Factored into the eventful hours working soft plastics around the bridges was Murphy’s Law — you know the thing about “if it can go wrong, it will.” Seems a friend told McAdam about baitfish balling up around one spot on the bridge, a place a friend has limited out on keeper redﬁsh. In what he said was choppy water (there was

a 12-knot wind), he said he caught three white trout, a couple of catfish and ladyfish while his fishing partner hooked a nearly 24-inch redfish. “When I went to net the fish, the net broke and the redfish went through the top rim of the net. We lost that fish, but managed to net an 18-inch redfish,” McAdam said. A lack of action prompted a move to an unproductive spot, then a move back to the original location between the railroad trestle and the U.S. 11 bridge. That’s where it happened: a strike on the offering, a Zoom Super Fluke Junior rainbow shad color with the tail dipped in chartreuse dye. “I thought I’d finally hooked a redfish. There was bait everywhere and we hadn’t seen a trout, but when the fish came to the top, it caught me off guard. It was a huge trout,” he said. Ah, but no net. “The trout jumped once, then twice and I made the mistake of trying to haul it in, but didn’t realize the weight of this fish,” he said. “I went to the back of the boat and tried to bring it in over the transom. The fish jumped again and I barely got it over the transom. You just don’t ever get that many chances with a big trout like that. When I went to weigh it, the hook fell out of its mouth.” Turns out the massive fish measured slightly more than 27 inches long and the scales at Chagg’s Sporting Goods hit 8.33 pounds, easily the heaviest trout of the summer and, when certified, the Metairie angler will take the lead in CCA’s S.T.A.R. tournament.

Sadness Friday, Aug. 14, was a day of tears for more folks than we’ll ever know. Skip Bertman’s death filled Facebook pages far and wide Bertman and became another chapter in a personal 42-year-long relationship with a man and his family. Lots of you know I covered LSU and college baseball for Capital City Press sports for 22 seasons, the last of which was LSU’s first national championship in 1991. Years with LSU coaches Jim Smith and Jack Lamabe preceded the eight seasons covering Bertman’s teams. What a ride to writing about six NCAA regionals and five College World Series trips and the glory-filled highs and the few lows this man and his family brought to LSU and Louisiana. There likely would be a debate for the four men to be immortalized on the Mount Rushmore of college baseball coaches, but there would be no challenge for choosing the ﬁrst one — Stanley Bertman. It was easy to come away from those eight seasons knowing Bertman was the best coach I’d covered if only for one reason — that he gave his teams and his players the best chance to win any game. That came from his depthless knowledge of baseball and the detailed work anyone who paid attention could see in his practices. And, he hired good assistants. Heartfelt condolences to his family. He will be missed — mightily missed.

CALENDAR TUESDAY

LAFAYETTE KAYAK FISHING CLUB MEETING: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Call 337-232-5854. Website: lafayettekayakﬁshing.com

WEDNESDAY

FLIES & FLIGHTS: 7-9 p.m., Rally Cap Brewing, 11212 Pennywood Ave., Baton Rouge. Casual fly tying. Open to public. Email Chris Williams: thefatfingeredflytyer@gmail. com

THURSDAY

ACADIANA FLY RODDERS PROGRAM: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Open to public. Email Darin Lee: cbrsandcdc@ gmail.com. Website: acadianaﬂyrodders.org

FRIDAY-SATURDAY

NSCA SPORTING CLAYS EVENTS: Wilderness Club, Lafayette.

ONGOING

STATEWIDE TOURNAMENT & ANGLERS RODEO/S.T.A.R.: Through Sept. 7, Coastal Conservation Association’s summer-long ﬁshing event. Tagged redﬁsh, coastal/offshore species categories & youth division. CCA membership required. Website: ccalouisiana.com/star

LOTTERY HUNT

BLACK BEAR DECEMBER SEASON: Application period ends Aug. 28 for 42 tags in seven areas plus Secretary tag to be auctioned. If drawn, bear hunter training course attendance is mandatory. Applications website: wlf.la.gov with $50 application fee. Email David Hayden: dhayden@wlf. la.gov

AROUND THE CORNER

AUG. 23 — SOUTH LOUISIANA HIGHPOWER CLUB MATCH: 8:30 a.m., Ascension Parish

Sheriff’s Range, St. Landry Road, Gonzales. NRA XTC & FClass match rifle or service rifle, 200-yard/50-rounds match course. Fee $15 members, $20 nonmembers, $5 juniors. $25 annual club (first match free) & Civilian Marksmanship Program membership (allows purchases from CMP). Call Mike Burke 337-380-8120. Email: SouthLAHighPower@ hotmail.com AUG. 23 — CLEAN OUT YOUR FREEZER DAY: 1-4 p.m., most of the 21 Louisiana sites and in Natchez, Mississippi. Collection of frozen game and fish for distribution by local food banks. A Hunters for the Hungry project. Website: cleanoutyourfreezer.com AUG. 24 — RED STICK FLY FISHERS FLY TYING SESSION: 7 p.m., Bluebonnet Regional Library, 9200 Bluebonnet Blvd., Baton Rouge. Brad Dunne featured tyer. Open to the public. Materials and tools available for beginners. Website: rsff. org AUG. 24-27 — GULF COUNCIL MEETING: Golden Nugget, Biloxi, Mississippi. Public comment 2-5 p.m. Aug. 26. Final action on electronic reporting rules for federal for-hire reef fish/migratory pelagic permits; amendments offered for for-hire red snapper management. Website: gulfcouncil.org AUG. 27 — ATCHAFALAYA REGION/QUAIL FOREVER BANQUET: 5 p.m., City Club, Baton Rouge. Supports quail habitat conservation. Sponsorships available. Email Joseph Guercio: ch3089@qfofficers.org AUG. 27—ACADIANA BUGS & BREWS: 6 p.m., Pack and Paddle, 601 E. Pinhook, Lafayette. Casual fly tying and local beers provided. Open to the public. Email Darin Lee: cbrsandcdc@gmail.com. Website: packpaddle.com AUG. 27 — LA. OUTDOORS FOREVER PROJECT SELECTION BOARD MEETING: 9 a.m., state Wildlife & Fisheries headquarters, 2000 Quail Drive, Baton Rouge.

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SHRIMP: Spring inshore season closed except for Breton/ Chandeleur sounds; all outside waters open. Fall inshore season opens 6 a.m. Monday in east & west zones and 6 p.m. Monday in central zone. OPEN RECREATIONAL SEASONS: Gray triggerfish; flounder; lane, blackfin, queen and silk snappers & wenchmen among other snapper species; all groupers except closed for goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters. CLOSED SEASONS: Private recreational red snapper; recreational/commercial greater amberjack (recreational season Sept. 1-Oct. 13); bluefin tuna; gag (Sept. 1-30 season), goliath & Nassau groupers in state/federal waters.

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CLOSED: Hope Canal Road/ boat launch (Maurepas Swamp WMA, levee construction); Reserve Relief Canal Boat Launch by order of Corps of Engineers (Reserve Relief Pump Station construction) with alternate launch locations at Pete’s Landing, the Akers boat ramp & Bonnet Carré Spillway boat launch. DRAWDOWNS: Saline Lake (through Oct. 5); Iatt Lake (through Oct. 5); Clear-Smithport Lake (through Nov. 16); Lake Bistineau (through Nov. 30); Henderson Lake (through Nov. 2); Cheniere Lake (through Nov. 15); Chicot Lake (Sept. 8-Jan. 4); Grand Bayou Reservoir (Sept. 8-Jan. 4). EMAIL: jmacaluso @theadvocate.com

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6C ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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SAINTS

THREE AND OUT: ROD WALKER’S TOP THREE TAKEAWAyS FROM SAINTS’ PRESEASON OPENER

SHINING STARS ON D Kellen Moore didn’t play any of his offensive or defensive starters. The good news is it gave fans an opportunity to see the backups. The first-team defense has been rock solid in training camp practices. On Saturday, the reserves showed they can hold their own, too. Linebacker Jaylan Ford was all over the field, recording seven tackles and an interception on the Jags’ first two possessions. Jayden Price, Jonas Sanker’s backup at the Star position, had an interception. Cornerback Martin Emerson had three pass breakups. It was good to see their playmaking in practice transfer to the game. They are quality depth pieces that will be counted on.

NOTHING SPECIAL Phil Galiano’s special teams unit struggled last season, so much so that there were questions about whether Moore would retain his coordinator. Galiano’s unit got off to a blazing start when Ty Chandler returned the opening kickoff 86 yards to set up a touchdown 21 seconds into the game. But special teams had its struggles after that. Ryan Wright followed up a 55-yard punt with one that went just 15 yards. The Saints had penalties on four plays on special teams. And Charlie Smyth missed a 52-yard field goal. Tanner Brown, who is battling for the kicker position with Smyth, made both of his field goals (including a 49-yarder) and probably has a slight edge right now.

QB2 BATTLE? This time a year ago, Spencer Rattler and Tyler Shough were battling to be the Saints’ starter. Rattler won the job but was replaced by Shough nine games into the season. There was no battle for the No. 1 spot this time, as Shough has taken over as the team’s unquestioned leader. Rattler seemed to be the obvious No. 2 QB, but there may be more of a competition after Saturday. Rattler completed 8 of 11 passes for 42 yards but was sacked twice and also had a fumble. Zach Wilson completed 11 of 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. The battle for QB2 could be heating up.

Saints marvel at rookie’s 2-sack outing Undrafted DE Heldman impresses in preseason outing

BY MATTHEW PARAS

Staff writer

Michael Heldman has a strange sack celebration. Intentionally so. After bringing down the quarterback, the New Orleans Saints rookie defensive end holds out two fingers with one hand and then waves the other as if he were summoning a magic circle — a tribute to Marvel’s Dr. Strange, the superhero played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the comic book ﬁlms. The celebration is certainly unorthodox, but that was the point. The night before his ﬁrstever preseason game, Heldman scrolled through TikTok as he searched for inspiration in case he recorded a sack. The Saints’ other edge rushers had urged the rookie to be prepared, and Heldman didn’t want to disappoint. Knowing he was a big Marvel fan, Heldman’s algorithm served him clips from the movies. The studying paid off when he got to break out the celebration twice in Saturday’s 24-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Caesars Superdome. “I didn’t want to copy anyone or just do something normal,” Heldman said. “(Giants edge rusher) Brian Burns does the whole Spiderman thing, so I can’t do that. And I was like, ‘No one’s ever hit the Dr. Strange. That’d be kind of cool.’ ” Heldman’s explanation, as silly as it sounds, actually explains why — and how — an undrafted rookie made such an impression in his preseason debut. First, the 23-year-old understood his teammates expected him to be one of one. Beyond listening to their advice, Heldman knew he had to deliver with his craft.

SAINTS

Continued from page 1C end of the day, I think it’s as talented a group as I’ve ever been around.” Starter Tyler Shough watched the preseason game from the Caesars Superdome sideline along with the rest of the offensive and defensive starters — 32 Saints players, in total, watched the game in their warm-ups. That left a lot of work for players such as Rattler and Wilson alongside teammates who were either rookies or fighting for roster spots. The Saints are familiar with who Rattler is. The third-year quarterback has started 14 games since New Orleans selected him in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, showing some signs of promise despite playing on a depleted roster that went 1-13 in those starts. He entered camp firmly entrenched as the No. 2 option behind Shough. The Saints jumped out to an early lead after Ty Chandler took the opening kickoff back 86 yards, setting up a 9-yard Audric Estime touchdown run on New Orleans’ first play from scrimmage. But that fast start fizzled out quickly for the offense. Rattler’s first three dropbacks featured an overthrow and a pair of sacks, both of which ended drives. The second of those sacks featured Rattler spinning out of one sack only to lose control of the football inside his own 10yard line when a pair of defend-

STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD

New Orleans Saints defensive end Michael Heldman, left, sacks Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Carter Bradley during a preseason game on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome. On each of his sacks, Heldman got the win because of adjustments he made throughout the game. Early on, the pass rusher could tell the opposing tackle had a habit of swatting his hands down to slow his rush. After getting knocked down to the ground a few times, Heldman set the bait: He started the same move, then dipped and ripped underneath to

ers converged on him. “I’ve got to avoid the fumble backed up (deep in my own territory),” Rattler said. “I tried to get out of some pressure, probably (should have) just tried to dirt it, or go down and move on to the next play.” Rattler was on the field for five possessions, and he did find a rhythm eventually. On his final drive, he worked the short area of the field, completing seven of his first eight passes on that drive for 48 yards to push the ball to the Jaguars 25-yard line. But then the Saints went backward when a Rattler pass to the flat was snuffed out for a 6-yard loss, and New Orleans ended up settling for a long field goal. Rattler finished the game completing 8 of 11 pass attempts, but he managed only 3.8 yards per pass attempt. Three of his five possessions resulted in either a three-and-out or a turnover. Wilson’s first series didn’t look much better; he fired a pair of incompletions as the Saints went three-and-out. But Saints defensive back Jayden Price gifted the offense a short field when he intercepted a Carter Bradley pass and returned it to the Jaguars 28-yard line. And Wilson took full advantage of a well-executed Moore play call. Jacksonville bit hard on his play-action fake, and he floated a ball down the sideline for a wideopen Bub Means. The play was initially ruled a 28-yard touchdown, but referees determined on video review that Means stepped out before crossing the plane.

create separation. “I mean, I’m an undrafted rookie,” said Heldman, who played college football at Central Michigan. “I’ve got to do everything to make this team.” Heldman’s chances of making the 53-man roster, as striking as his debut was, could still be steep. The Saints have an established foundation of Chase Young, Carl

No matter, as Wilson hit rookie tight end Oscar Delp for a touchdown on the next play, putting the Saints ahead 17-6. He followed that up by leading a scoring drive to close out the first half. Starting from his own 5-yard line with 1:02 on the clock, Wilson connected on a pair of explosive pass plays — one perfect throw down the sideline to Means for a gain of 37, then another sideline shot to rookie Barion Brown for a gain of 28. “Zach, his arm talent is amazing,” Means said. “He’s a baller, for sure. He’s going to take risks. He’s going to throw it.” Wilson’s third-down pass to Means from the Jaguars 11 fell incomplete with four seconds remaining, but the Saints collected a field goal to push their halftime lead to 20-6. New Orleans gave Wilson one more drive in the third quarter, which he nearly derailed by taking an ugly 14-yard loss on a sack. But Wilson responded by firing completions of 8 and 14 yards, setting up kicker Charlie Smyth for a 52-yard field goal that he missed wide right. “Zach is a really talented quarterback. He’s a really, really good football player,” Moore said. “I’ve enjoyed seeing him grow through the whole offseason program, from OTAs to training camp to now. Zach … just turned 27. He’s still got tons of growing to do, and he’s done a great job applying himself this year in our system.” Email Luke Johnson at ljohnson@theadvocate.com.

that make his rise worth monitoring. And though he’s undersized for his position, the 6-foot3, 268-pound pass rusher made a noticeable leap in his ﬁnal collegiate season with 101/2 sacks. It was enough of a breakout for the Saints to sign him to a contract after the draft. “He just continues to play the right play style,” Saints coach Kellen Moore said. “You just keep playing the right way, keep battling and good things are going to happen for you.” What adds to Heldman’s performance is that days earlier, he felt as if he wasn’t playing the right way. Heldman said he was left embarrassed by how he performed in Thursday’s joint practice against the Jaguars. He pointed to two glaring mistakes. On one, Heldman misplayed the run as a pass — resulting in a huge gap that the running back exploded through. On the other, Heldman forgot to drop back in coverage — resulting in a pass right over his head. “I’m looking around like, ‘Ugh, can you go to the next clip, please?’ ” Heldman said. Heldman embraced his mistakes. And he knew he couldn’t let the practice linger. He thought of Jon Gordon, a guest speaker who addressed the Saints about being either a hero or a warrior. A hero, Heldman said Gordon shared, wants the game to be over so they can enjoy the win. A warrior, by contrast, attacks every second of the game. “I’ve never had this much excitement going into a game before,” Heldman said. “It was just like, ‘Kept hunting. Kept hunting.’ ” And when his hunt succeeded, Heldman stuck out his fingers, waved his other hand in a circle and delivered a performance that the Saints would marvel over all on their own. “I was just really excited for him,” linebacker Jaylan Ford said.

Granderson and Cam Jordan, none of whom played Saturday. And even if Jordan (hamstring) opens the season on injured reserve, Tyree Wilson and Anfernee Jennings — both of whom were rested against the Jaguars — have been ahead of Heldman on the depth chart. Still, Heldman has made Email Matthew Paras at matt. enough plays in training camp paras@theadvocate.com

DUNCAN

Continued from page 1C In between, several other new faces flashed. Veteran quarterback Zach Wilson served notice that he plans to challenge Spencer Rattler for the backup job by carving up the Jaguars’ reserve defense. He completed 11 of 16 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown for a nifty 118.0 passer rating. If Wilson keeps it up, the Saints might just have a new backup quarterback because the incumbent Rattler was less than impressive, connecting on 8 of 11 passes for 42 yards and losing a costly fumble deep in his own territory. The game also served as a first look at the Saints’ 2026 draft class (other than Jordyn Tyson), and for the most part, it was a promising debut. Rookie defensive tackle Christen Miller showed the stout run-stuffing skills that led the Saints to select him in the second round. Miller finished with four tackles in about a half of work. Massive right guard Jeremiah Wright wreaked havoc early on before noticeably hitting a wall. He’s going to be fun to watch in the trenches. And kicker Tanner Brown showed off his powerful right leg with a pair of field goals, including a 49-yarder. There were plenty of other highlights.

Jayden Price continued his ascension with a beautiful read and interception of Carter Bradley in the second quarter. Undrafted free agent edge rusher Michael Heldman was a one-man highlight reel in the second half. He ﬁnished with six tackles, including team-highs of three tackles for loss and two sacks. “We started fast and that’s been a point of emphasis this offseason,” Moore said. “We have to learn the sustaining part of this thing, but I was really proud of the way our guys competed tonight.” While every NFL season tends to feel new in August, this one has felt distinctly different throughout the offseason. The vibe. The voices. The faces. Just about everything feels fresh and new. With longtime stalwarts Demario Davis and Taysom Hill gone, and Cam Jordan and Alvin Kamara in reduced roles, a new group of front men has emerged. Shough, Chase Young, Kaden Elliss, Kool-Aid McKinstry, Travis Etienne and David Edwards have stepped into the fore and will lead this team along with veteran holdovers Erik McCoy, Chris Olave, Zach Wood and Justin Reid. This feels — and acts — like a new team. Whether it’s new and improved remains to be seen. The regular season will provide the referendum. Email Jeff Duncan at jduncan@theadvocate.com.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ 7C

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SAINTS NOTEBOOK

NFL PRESEASON ROUNDUP

RB Estime’s strong day ends in pain

Watson leads Browns on 2 scoring drives in preseason loss to Bears

BY LUKE JOHNSON AND MATTHEW PARAS Staff writers

Things could not have started better for running back Audric Estime as he made his latest push to make the New Orleans Saints’ 53man roster. After Ty Chandler started the game off with a bang, taking the opening kickoff 86 yards back to the Jacksonville 9-yard line, Estime finished it off on the next play. He took a handoff from Spencer Rattler around the left tackle, then stiffarmed a defender on his way to the end zone. It was the start of an impressive performance for Estime, who enjoyed a solid close to the 2025 season and appeared to ride that momentum into training camp. He rushed five times for 28 yards and a score while taking first-team running back snaps Saturday against STAFF PHOTO By BRETT DUKE the Jaguars in a 24-20 loss. But Estime’s game ended on New Orleans Saints running back Audric Estime runs for a touchdown a sour note when he corralled a against the Jacksonville Jaguars during a preseason game on Saturday at pass from Rattler in the flat and the Caesars Superdome. appeared to get his leg caught up under him as he was being tackn Running back Travis Etienne n Safety Julian Blackmon led for a 6-yard loss in the second n Running back Alvin Kamara n Safety Terrell Burgess (lower quarter. Coach Kellen Moore said afn Miller (back) body) ter the game that Estime was getn Neal (hamstring) Moore opted to lean on the restting medical imaging done on his n Wide receiver Chris Olave heavy plan because of Thursday’s ankle to get a better idea of the n Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson (hamjoint practice against the Jaguars, severity of the injury. which saw the team’s starters take While Estime was able to leave string) n Wide receiver Devaughn Vele extensive reps. the field without assistance from n Tight end Juwan Johnson The Saints also did not play the medical staff, he spent a conn Tight end Noah Fant rookie wide receiver Bryce Lance siderable amount of time in the n Left tackle Kelvin Banks and edge rusher Tyree Wilson, despite blue injury tent on the sideline. n Left guard David Edwards the two technically being active. After his lengthy examination, n Center Erik McCoy Moore said Friday that Wilson was Estime tested things out briefly on n Right guard Cesar Ruiz dealing with “bumps and bruises.” the sideline before jogging to the n Right tackle Taliese Fuaga locker room. Kicker battle n Defensive end Chase Young New Orleans already has dealt n with some attrition at running Defensive end Carl Granderson Rather than splitting up their n Defensive end Cam Jordan (hamback. Kendre Miller (back) and Devin duties by halves or quarters, the Neal (hamstring), Estime’s primary string) Saints alternated their two kickers n Defensive tackle Vernon Broughcompetition for the No. 3 running by kick in Saturday’s preseason back job, both have missed more ton opener. n Defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd than a week of training camp with Incumbent Charlie Smyth made both n Defensive tackle Davon Godchaux of his extra points, while challenger their respective injuries. Tanner Brown made both of his field (ankle) Spectators only n Defensive tackle John Ridgeway goal attempts from 49 and 29 yards. Smyth received the only opporThe New Orleans Saints stuck to (back) n Linebacker Kaden Elliss their plan. tunity in the second half, but he n Linebacker Pete Werner They rested their starters for pushed his 52-yard field goal atn Linebacker Chris Rumph (ankle) Saturday’s preseason opener, just tempt wide right. n Linebacker Danny Stutsman as Moore said they would. Several “It was kind of a rough back and n Cornerback Kool-Aid McKinstry other players were also unavailforth,” Moore said. “Based on the n Cornerback Quincy Riley type of kicks they were each going able due to injuries. n Cornerback Rejzohn Wright (hip) to have, we might have to adjust The following players did not n Safety Jonas Sanker and apply it. Both those guys had suit up for Saturday’s contest: n Quarterback Tyler Shough n Safety Justin Reid their opportunities.”

The Associated Press CHICAGO — It was a mixed bag for Deshaun Watson. Same for Shedeur Sanders. Watson led the Browns on two scoring drives in the first half of Cleveland’s 34-10 loss to the Chicago Bears, and Sanders tossed an ugly interception in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s preseason opener. The QBs are competing for the starting job in coach Todd Monken’s first training camp since taking over in January. “There were some things operationally that I know we can clean up, but I thought at moments we threw the ball well, and that’s what we needed to see,” Monken said. Watson was 11 for 15 for 126 yards but lost a fumble in his first game in almost two years. Sanders was 6 for 11 for 79 yards while playing the third quarter and first part of the fourth. KC Concepcion had a 14-yard touchdown run for Cleveland on the first play of the second quarter. The wide receiver, who also had three receptions for 27 yards, was a first-round pick in this year’s draft. VIKINGS 13, GIANTS 10: In East Rutherford,New Jersey,everything is new for Kyler Murray after joining the Minnesota Vikings, so he made sure to soak in every little thing, from the flights and bus rides to the purple-and-white uniform. “I’ve never been more excited to play a preseason game,” Murray said. “Reality’s set in.” In his first game action since being named the starting quarterback, Murray led a drive that ended in a field goal on the way to a 13-10 victory at the New York Giants on Saturday in each team’s preseason opener. RAMS 20, CHIEFS 12: In Kansas City, Missouri, there were a whole bunch of raised eyebrows when the Los Angeles Rams drafted Ty Simpson in the first round in April. Maybe there shouldn’t have been. The surprising pick of the Super Bowl contenders shined in his preseason debut against Kansas City on Saturday, going 21 of 25 for 190 yards with a pair of touchdown passes to Dean Connors. Justin Fields completed all four of his passes in his first quarter as the backup to Chiefs quarterback Patrick

AP PHOTO By DAVID BANKS

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson passes during the first half of a preseason game on Saturday in Chicago.

Mahomes, whose only time on the field Saturday was for the coin toss. Seventh-round pick Garrett Nussmeier played most of the way for Kansas City, going 13 of 19 for 98 yards, while fifth-round draft pick Emmett Johnson ran 12 times for 59 yards and was perhaps the biggest bright spot for the Chiefs offense. BILLS 29, PANTHERS 14: In Orchard Park, New York, it didn’t takeJosh Allen long to grow accustomed to his new surroundings by overseeing a pair of scoring drives to kick off the franchise’s new era with a preseason-opening win over the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. In Buffalo’s first game in its new $2.1 billion Highmark Stadium and first under new head coach Joe Brady, Allen showed his familiar elusiveness in completing a 9-yard touchdown to Keon Coleman to cap his second and final offensive series of the day. Allen went 6 for 8 for 111 yards, starting with a 21-yard throw to Khalil Shakir on a play action pass on the first snap from scrimmage. Most notable, perhaps, was Allen continuing to build chemistry with DJ Moore, the veteran who was acquired in the offseason and is being asked to bring a big-play dimension to an offense that’s lacked it for much of the past two years. “I’m going to go out and make an assumption that it’s going to be awesome to do that every single game, is getting him the ball early and often,” Allen said of Moore’s three catches for 61 yards. “He’s a heck of a football player and we’re lucky to have him.”

SCOREBOARD Odds Sports Betting Line MLB Sunday

American League FAVORITE LINE at TAMPA BAY -142 N.Y Yankees -123 Chi White Sox -114 Texas -143 Kansas City -124 at HOUSTON -136 National League FAVORITE LINE at ATLANTA -130 Miami -127 at N.Y METS -174 at CHI CUBS -162 at SAN FRAN -134 at LA DODGERS -172 Interleague FAVORITE LINE Boston -121 San Diego -115 Philadelphia -115

UNDERDOG Baltimore at TORONTO at DETROIT at ATHLETICS at LA ANGELS Seattle

LINE +116 -100 -106 +117 +101 +110

UNDERDOG Arizona at CINCINNATI Washington St. Louis Colorado Milwaukee

LINE +106 +104 +140 +130 +109 +139

UNDERDOG at PITTSBURGH at CLEVELAND at MINNESOTA

LINE -102 -108 -107

Pro basketball WNBA Glance EASTERN CONFERENCE Indiana Atlanta New York Washington Chicago Toronto Connecticut

W 22 21 22 19 12 10 8

L 12 12 14 14 22 23 25

Pct .647 .636 .611 .576 .353 .303 .242

GB — ½ 1 2½ 10 11½ 13½

x-Minnesota Golden State x-Las Vegas Dallas Portland Phoenix Los Angeles Seattle

W 28 24 24 20 14 13 12 7

L 7 9 11 15 20 22 21 29

Pct .800 .727 .686 .571 .412 .371 .364 .194

GB — 3 4 8 13½ 15 15 21½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

x-clinched playoff spot Friday’s Games Indiana 98, Dallas 87 Portland 84, Seattle 82

Saturday’s Games

New York 82, Connecticut 75 Washington 80, Los Angeles 70 Minnesota at Las Vegas, n

Sunday’s Games

Chicago at Seattle, 4 p.m. Indiana at Atlanta, 4 p.m. Portland at Phoenix, 6 p.m..

Golf FedEx St. Jude Championship At TPC Southwind Memphis, Tenn. Purse: $20 million

Yardage: 7,288; Par: 70 Third Round Scottie Schefﬂer Sam Burns Sungjae Im Tommy Fleetwood Jake Knapp Brian Harman Si Woo Kim Hideki Matsuyama Alex Noren Viktor Hovland Tom Kim Kurt Kitayama Patrick Cantlay Wyndham Clark Nicolas Echavarria Chris Gotterup J.T. Poston Adam Scott Matt Fitzpatrick Jordan Spieth Nick Taylor Jacob Bridgeman Pierceson Coody Rickie Fowler Jackson Koivun Maverick McNealy Keith Mitchell Patrick Rodgers Xander Schauffele J.J. Spaun Gary Woodland Ludvig Åberg Bud Cauley Ryan Gerard Harry Hall Russell Henley Alex Smalley Max Homa Aaron Rai Justin Thomas Michael Brennan Ryo Hisatsune Matti Schmid Sam Stevens Cameron Young Nicolai Højgaard Michael Kim Collin Morikawa Jordan L. Smith Sudarshan Yellamaraju Corey Conners Michael Thorbjornsen Ben Grifﬁn Min Woo Lee Shane Lowry Sepp Straka Ricky Castillo Eric Cole Harris English Aldrich Potgieter Alex Fitzpatrick Matthew McCarty Rory McIlroy

68-61-68—197 67-70-62—199 66-66-67—199 66-68-68—202 65-70-67—202 70-64-69—203 70-68-65—203 66-70-67—203 71-66-66—203 68-64-72—204 69-72-63—204 65-73-66—204 69-66-70—205 69-66-70—205 68-66-71—205 66-70-69—205 71-68-66—205 66-70-69—205 70-67-69—206 65-69-72—206 69-68-69—206 69-70-68—207 71-66-70—207 68-73-66—207 71-70-66—207 68-70-69—207 69-66-72—207 67-69-71—207 67-72-68—207 71-69-67—207 66-71-70—207 68-65-74—207 66-72-70—208 70-70-68—208 72-68-68—208 71-70-67—208 68-68-72—208 73-67-69—209 72-66-71—209 70-67-72—209 73-70-67—210 69-70-71—210 73-70-67—210 69-71-70—210 69-69-72—210 73-70-68—211 65-72-74—211 71-69-71—211 71-73-67—211 70-65-76—211 71-71-70—212 65-75-72—212 73-71-69—213 67-71-75—213 69-72-72—213 68-73-72—213 72-74-68—214 72-72-70—214 68-75-71—214 71-71-72—214 71-74-70—215 73-72-71—216 74-70-72—216

Pro football NFL Preseason Glance Thursday’s Games

Cincinnati 16, Detroit 14 Pittsburgh 28, Green Bay 9 Indianapolis 13, New England 13

-13 -11 -11 -8 -8 -7 -7 -7 -7 -6 -6 -6 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -5 -4 -4 -4 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -3 -2 -2 -2 -2 -2 -1 -1 -1 E E E E E +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +2 +2 +3 +3 +3 +3 +4 +4 +4 +4 +5 +6 +6

Arizona 27, Las Vegas 14 L.A. Chargers 27, Houston 7 Tennessee 19, San Francisco 13

Friday’s Games

Denver 27, Atlanta 7 Tampa Bay 24, N.Y. Jets 16 Washington 20, Miami 7

Saturday’s Games

Buffalo 29, Carolina 14 Chicago 34, Cleveland 10 Minnesota 13, N.Y. Giants 10 Jacksonville 24, New Orleans 20 L.A. Rams 20, Kansas City 12 Philadelphia at Baltimore, n Dallas at Seattle, n

Jacksonville 24, New Orleans 20

Jacksonville 6 0 8 10 — 24 New Orleans 7 13 0 0 — 20 First Quarter NO_Estime 9 run (Smyth kick), 14:39. Jac_FG C.Little 54, 1:55. Jac_FG C.Little 32, :17. Second Quarter NO_FG T.Brown 49, 7:49. NO_Delp 1 pass from Z.Wilson (Smyth kick), 3:02. NO_FG T.Brown 29, :00. Third Quarter Jac_Long 1 pass from Bradley (J.Taylor run), 8:53. Fourth Quarter Jac_FG C.Little 36, 8:35. Jac_J.Taylor 2 run (C.Little kick), 4:55.

A_70,011.

Jac NO First downs 19 18 Total Net Yards 275 277 Rushes-yards 36-118 16-56 Passing 157 221 Punt Returns 2-18 3--6 Kickoff Returns 4-100 5-185 Interceptions Ret. 0-0 2-26 Comp-Att-Int 14-25-2 27-42-0 Sacked-Yards Lost 4-24 4-35 Punts 4-43.5 5-42.6 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1 Penalties-Yards 8-50 8-66 Time of Possession 35:12 24:48 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING_Jacksonville, Taylor 22-78, Dallas 10-26, Pena 1-8, Bradley 2-4, Mullens 1-2. New Orleans, Estime 5-28, Chandler 6-24, Dekkers 1-4, Donaldson 4-0. PASSING_Jacksonville, Bradley 10-17-1-105, Aguilar 1-1-0-43, Mullens 3-7-1-33. New Orleans, Z.Wilson 11-16-0-145, Dekkers 8-150-69, Rattler 8-11-0-42. RECEIVING_Jacksonville, Pena 3-58, C.Williams 2-28, Brayboy 2-25, Trammell 2-18, Boyd 1-19, Cameron 1-17, Wortham 1-9, Dallas 1-6, Long 1-1. New Orleans, Means 4-77, B.Brown 4-53, Palmer 4-33, MorenoCropper 3-49, Austin 3-24, Welch 3-16, Delp 3-10, Chandler 1-0, Donaldson 1-0, Estime 1-(minus 6). MISSED FIELD GOALS_New Orleans, Smyth 52.

Auto racing NASCAR Cook Out 400 Lineup After Friday qualifying; race Saturday

At Richmond Raceway Richmond, Va. Lap length: 0.75 miles (Car number in parentheses) 1. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 121.485 mph. 2. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 121.212. 3. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 121.179. 4. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 121.103. 5. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 120.822. 6. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 120.348. 7. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 120.267. 8. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 120.219. 9. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 120.048. 10. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 120.027. 11. (88) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 119.947. 12. (42) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 119.925. 13. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 119.872. 14. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 119.830. 15. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 119.755. 16. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 119.601. 17. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 119.591. 18. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 119.580. 19. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 119.437. 20. (7) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 119.353. 21. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 119.305. 22. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 119.300. 23. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 119.179. 24. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 119.126. 25. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 119.027. 26. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 118.995. 27. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 118.880. 28. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 118.817. 29. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 118.807. 30. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 118.723. 31. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 118.561. 32. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 118.546. 33. (33) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 118.525. 34. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 118.478. 35. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 118.121. 36. (66) Josh Bilicki, Ford, 115.870. 37. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, .000.

Tennis Western & Southern Open Results Saturday

At Lindner Family Tennis Center Cincinnati Purse: $9,415,725 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Results Saturday from Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses):

Men’s Singles

Round of 64 Alexander Blockx (28), Belgium, def. Mariano Navone, Argentina, 6-3, 6-4. Flavio Cobolli (7), Italy, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo, Paraguay, def. Valentin Vacherot (15), Monaco, 6-3, 6-3. Martin Landaluce, Spain, def. Matteo Arnaldi (31), Italy, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Alejandro Tabilo (22), Chile, def. Jan-Lennard Struff, Germany, 6-3, 6-4. Thiago Agustin Tirante, Argentina, def. Novak Djokovic (3), Serbia, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Jakub Mensik (14), Czechia, def. Mattia Bel-

lucci, Italy, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (5). Rinky Hijikata, Australia, def. Luciano Darderi (19), Italy, 6-4, 6-2. Alex de Minaur (5), Australia, def. Quentin Halys, France, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Terence Atmane, France, def. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (26), Argentina, 6-3, 7-6 (4). Tommy Paul (18), United States, def. Hubert Hurkacz, Poland, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3. Arthur Fery (32), Britain, def. James Duckworth, Australia, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4).

Women’s Singles

Round of 128 Zhang Shuai, China, def. Kayla Day, United States, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s Singles

Round of 64 Alexandra Eala (17), Philippines, def. ElenaGabriela Ruse, Romania, 6-1, 3-0, ret. Amanda Anisimova (9), United States, def. Zeynep Sonmez, Turkiye, 6-2, 6-3. Maja Chwalinska (19), Poland, def. Cristina Bucsa, Spain, 6-2, 6-2. Anna Kalinskaya (18), Russia, def. Caty McNally, United States, 6-3, 6-4. Diana Shnaider (14), Russia, def. Tatjana Maria, Germany, 6-2, 7-5. Magdalena Frech, Poland, def. Jelena Ostapenko (26), Latvia, 6-1, 6-3. Linda Noskova (6), Czechia, def. Katie Boulter, Britain, 6-3, 6-3. Sorana Cirstea (15), Romania, def. Nikola Bartunkova, Czechia, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Jessica Pegula (3), United States, def. Simona Waltert, Switzerland, 6-3, 6-2. Emma Navarro (25), United States, def. Anhelina Kalinina, Ukraine, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. Maria Sakkari (29), Greece, def. Kamilla Rakhimova, Russia, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.

Transactions Major League Baseball

American League CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Activated C Jake Rogers. Optioned C Edgar Quero to Charlotte (IL). LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Sent LHP Yusei Kikuchi on a rehab assignment to Rancho Cucamonga (CAL). SEATTLE MARINERS — Claimed RHP Troy Watson off waivers from Detroit. TAMPA BAY RAYS — Optioned RHP Chris Roycroft to Durham (IL). Recalled RHP Joe Boyle from Durham. TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Placed 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on the 7-day IL. Designated RHP Lazaro Estrada for assignment. Selected the contract of OF Daz Cameron from Buffalo (IL). Optioned RHP Chase Lee to Buffalo. Recalled LHP Ricky Tiedemann from Buffalo. National League MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Designated OF Jihwan Bae for assignment. Acquired SS Jonathan Ornelas from the Athletics in exchange for cash. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Recalled OF Joshua Báez from Memphis (IL). Optioned 3B César Prieto to Memphis.

FOOTBALL

National Football League ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed TE Baylor Cupp, DL Keveion’ta Spears and RB Tre Stewart. Placed OL Chase Bisontis, TE Jameson Geers and LB Austin Keys on injured reserve.

8C ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

lll

PRO BASEBALL MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

LOUISIANA PROS

American League

Major league hitters Player Alex Bregman Dylan Crews Jake Fraley Jake Rogers David Fry Hunter Feduccia Tommy White Josh Smith

State ties Pos LSU 3B LSU OF LSU OF Tulane C Nrthwstrn St. 1B LSU C LSU 3B A LSU 2B

Minor league hitters Triple A

Team (Organization) Cubs Nationals Rays Red Sox Guardians Dodgers thletics Blue Jays

G 120 71 28 40 71 68 23 55

AB 475 266 82 104 143 156 90 154

R H 69 120 40 58 6 19 15 19 16 26 18 37 8 22 12 33

2B 23 11 7 4 4 8 2 3

3B 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1

HR 16 10 2 3 6 3 0 2

RBI 61 27 5 11 13 13 1 9

SB 3 8 3 1 0 0 0 4

Avg. .253 .218 .232 .183 .182 .237 .244 .214

OPS .751 .662 .690 .617 .639 .665 .528 .585

Player Drew Avans Jacob Berry Tre’ Morgan Hayden Cantrelle Julian Brock

State ties Pos Southeastern LF LSU 3B LSU 1B UL SS UL C

Team (Organization) Albequerque (Rockies) Jacksonville (Marlins) Durham (Rays) Iowa (Cubs) Round Rock (Rangers)

G 83 77 49 86 57

AB 288 258 180 230 203

R 48 42 27 41 30

H 58 67 46 54 43

2B 8 17 7 9 9

3B 2 0 1 5 1

HR 1 6 14 3 6

RBI 38 36 34 23 35

SB 21 18 1 22 3

Avg. .201 .260 .256 .235 .212

OPS .570 .776 .877 .712 .676

Carson Roccaforte Kyle DeBarge Jacob Burke Edgar Alvarez Taylor Young Cade Doughty Jorge Corona Miguel Useche Colin Tuft Luke Hill

UL UL U-High Nicholls La. Tech LSU La. Tech UNO Tulane Episcopal

OF SS OF 1B 2B 2B C C C 3B

Northwest Arkansas (Royals) 107 Wichita (Twins) 95 Birmingham (White Sox) 72 Knoxville (Cubs) 85 Tulsa (Dodgers) 55 New Hampshire (Blue Jays) 46 Birmingham (White Sox) 47 Knoxville (Cubs) 65 Chesapeake (Orioles) 74 Akron (Guardians) 57

425 369 255 270 194 140 150 219 252 194

80 106 59 76 48 64 40 47 41 64 24 36 25 35 41 61 45 56 44 50

18 20 14 13 14 8 5 12 14 16

5 1 2 1 0 1 1 1 5 1

30 12 5 9 5 3 7 11 12 11

78 40 25 33 32 19 21 40 39 45

20 26 15 1 14 3 1 6 23 9

.249 .206 .251 .174 .330 .257 .233 .279 .222 .258

.860 .671 .698 .652 .901 .722 .740 .875 .808 .913

Kyle Walker Daniel Dickinson Ethan Frey Teo Banks Jared Jones

Rummel LSU LSU Tulane LSU

2B SS OF OF 1B

Asheville (Astros) Wisconsin (Brewers) Asheville (Astros) Wilmington (Nationals) Greensboro (Pirates)

80 96 70 72 78

306 309 267 217 284

51 60 45 31 61

77 80 77 53 89

20 18 16 11 11

1 0 1 1 0

4 8 10 4 16

33 53 56 27 56

31 43 19 8 0

.252 .259 .288 .244 .313

.719 .815 .845 .681 .938

Connor Rasmussen Brady Marget Conner O’Neal

Tulane SS Tulane 1B Southeastern C

Columbia (Royals) Charleston (Rays) Ontario (Dodgers)

70 67 61

217 237 208

39 48 29

58 81 47

11 18 10

3 0 0

2 5 7

29 62 33

11 1 1

.267 .342 .227

.766 .919 .727

Cardell Thibodeaux

Southern

FCL Braves

.190

.658

State ties LSU Centenary LSU Southeastern LSU UL LSU LSU UL LSU UL McNeese LSU McNeese St. LSU La. Tech La. Tech Dutchtown McNeese St. St. Paul’s LSU

Team Pirates Royals Blue Jays Yankees Phillies Astros White Sox Rangers Orioles Athletics Athletics Astros Royals Brewers Rockies Cubs Marlins Tigers Nationals Tigers Orioles

G 25 24 25 24 25 17 44 43 20 14 55 48 45 44 32 31 28 18 14 1 13

GS 25 24 25 23 25 17 4 1 20 14 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

IP 134.2 134.2 139.0 118.0 130.0 88.0 61.1 54.0 113.2 72.2 52.0 50.0 46.2 48.2 26.2 27.2 32.2 23.2 23.1 1.2 14.1

W-L 9-11 5-7 6-11 8-6 4-9 7-5 4-4 3-1 9-3 5-7 3-1 2-3 1-7 3-3 0-2 0-1 2-0 1-1 1-0 0-0 1-0

SV 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 23 0 0 11 6 10 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1

H 114 139 139 125 143 68 43 26 109 73 48 50 47 36 27 34 34 12 25 0 14

ER 58 66 70 58 77 45 15 11 42 36 21 22 32 20 15 19 20 4 10 0 11

BB 37 46 38 41 46 50 20 14 41 33 34 19 26 18 17 16 16 9 4 2 10

SO 166 104 138 117 138 87 80 56 93 84 70 41 49 41 28 31 29 15 26 1 17

ERA 3.88 4.41 4.53 4.42 5.33 4.60 2.20 1.83 3.33 4.46 3.63 3.96 6.17 3.70 5.06 6.18 5.51 1.52 3.86 0.00 6.91

WHIP 1.12 1.37 1.27 1.41 1.45 1.34 1.03 0.74 1.32 1.46 1.58 1.38 1.56 1.11 1.65 1.81 1.53 0.89 1.24 1.20 1.67

Player Grant Rogers Jackson Nezuh Chase Solesky Eric Reyzelman Paul Gervase Ricky Castro Kyle Keller Brendan Cellucci Cole Henry Brian Metoyer Eric Orze

State ties McNeese UL Tulane LSU LSU Tulane Southeastern Tulane LSU LSU-Alexandria UNO

Team (Organization) G Buffalo (Blue Jays) 22 Sugar Land (Astros) 18 Louisville (Reds) 25 Scranton (Yankees) 31 Oklahoma City (Dodgers) 29 St. Paul’s (Twins) 26 Worcester (Red Sox) 23 Buffalo (Blue Jays) 39 Rochester (Nationals) 20 Syracuse (Mets) 39 St. Paul (Twins) 7

GS 22 17 7 0 0 9 0 0 2 0 0

IP 101.0 84.0 57.1 37.2 35.1 60.1 31.1 44.2 19.1 42.2 7.0

W-L 3-9 2-20 5-6 2-3 2-1 6-2 3-30 6-2 1-0 3-2 0-0

SV 0 69 0 1 3 0 0 2 4 3

H 124 40 72 32 25 75 27 38 17 33 4

ER 66 3 41 27 20 37 14 17 8 21 2

BB 33 7 22 21 31 23 22 22 2 24 1

SO 62 101 54 60 45 67 39 47 14 67 5

ERA 5.88 4.29 6.44 6.45 5.09 5.52 4.02 3.43 3.72 4.43 2.57

WHIP 1.55 1.26 1.64 1.41 1.58 1.62 1.56 1.34 0.98 1.34 0.71

Kade Anderson Kenya Huggins Anthony Eyanson Fidel Ulloa Blayne Enlow Beau Blanchard Keagan Gillies Nathan Blasick Tayler Montiel Aidan Anderson

LSU St. Augustine LSU LSU St. Amant ULM Tulane UNO Tulane McNeese

Arkansas (Mariners) 17 Midland (Athletics) 23 Chesapeake (Orioles) 17 Hartford (Rockies) 30 Columbus (Braves) 18 Chattanooga (Reds) 21 Chesapeake (Orioles) 28 Hartford (Rockies) 31 Amarillo (Dbacks) 33 Birmingham (White Sox) 26

17 9 16 0 0 11 0 0 0 0

87.2 72.1 73.1 39.2 21.1 76.0 31.2 54.2 51.1 37.0

10-1 1-4 5-0 5-2 1-2 5-5 2-0 10-4 3-2 1-1

0 3 0 7 0 1 2 6 3 03

45 89 39 30 23 84 28 42 45 7

11 53 12 11 19 47 16 20 25 18

12 43 27 22 12 32 9 22 26 14

128 74 103 42 24 74 38 60 69 23

1.13 6.59 1.47 2.50 8.02 5.57 4.55 3.29 4.38 4.38

0.65 1.82 0.90 1.31 1.64 1.53 1.17 1.17 1.38 1.38

Justin Loer L.P. Langevin Jarret Whorff Christian Little Andrew Landry Chase Shores Jackson Lancaster Ty Floyd Jacob Mayers Dylan Carmouche Chandler Welch

LSU UL La. Tech LSU Southeastern LSU La. Tech LSU LSU Tulane Tulane

Spokane (Rockies) 29 Quad Cities (Royals) 34 Rome (Braves) 33 Everett (Mariners) 33 Hudson Valley (Yankees) 30 Tri-City (Angels) 12 Bowling Green (Rays) 26 Dayton (Reds) 10 Greenville (Red Sox) 18 Win-Salem (White Sox) 17 Wisconsin (Brewers) 22

0 0 0 0 0 12 0 8 11 4 1

54.2 46.2 42.2 44.0 40.0 48.0 34.0 32.0 54.2 37.2 56.0

2-3 5-3 1-4 3-4 2-3 3-2 1-1 0-2 2-3 2-2 6-4

2 1 2 8 1 0 1 0 1 0 2

43 17 55 23 41 47 45 19 34 48 52

35 15 43 14 20 26 39 11 26 33 34

45 37 15 22 18 20 26 18 52 24 32

54 5.76 90 2.89 41 9.07 53 2.86 46 4.50 54 4.88 36 10.32 37 3.09 73 4.28 41 7.88 52 5.46

1.61 1.16 1.64 1.02 1.48 1.40 2.09 1.16 1.57 1.91 1.50

Michael Lombardi Brennan Stuprich Sam Brodersen Luke Holman Thatcher Hurd Logan Forsythe Kade Woods Stephen Still

Tulane Southeastern Louisiana Tech LSU LSU La. Tech LSU Dunham

Columbia (Royals) 20 Tampa (Yankees) 10 Frdricksburg (Nationals) 22 Daytona (Reds) 4 Tampa (Yankees) 11 Augusta (Braves) 24 Augusta (Braves) 23 Frederick (Orioles) 14

15 7 0 4 11 5 0 12

80.1 41.1 28.0 6.2 43.0 45.1 25.0 57.0

2-3 2-2 1-1 0-0 1-5 2-2 2-3 2-5

0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0

61 37 31 5 25 34 31 50

29 21 15 2 19 22 20 30

48 13 23 1 25 40 24 28

114 38 36 9 53 48 24 69

1.36 1.21 1.93 0.90 1.16 1.63 2.20 1.37

Double A

High A

Single A

Rookie

Major league pitchers

Player Paul Skenes Seth Lugo Kevin Gausman Will Warren Aaron Nola Spencer Arrighetti Grant Taylor Jake Latz Brandon Young Gage Jump Hogan Harris Bryan King Alex Lange Grant Anderson Jaden Hill Phil Maton Cade Gibson Jacob Waguespack Will Dion Tanner Rainey Cam Sanders

Minor league pitchers Triple A

Double A

High A

Single A

Rookie

3.25 4.57 4.82 2.07 3.98 4.37 7.20 4.74

East Division

National League

Tampa Bay New York Boston Toronto Baltimore

W 74 68 65 61 59

L 47 55 57 64 63

Pct GB .612 — .553 7 .533 9½ .488 15 .484 15½

Chicago Detroit Minnesota Cleveland Kansas City

W 64 60 60 59 50

L 58 63 63 64 73

Houston Texas Seattle Athletics Los Angeles

W 63 60 57 48 48

L 60 63 66 74 75

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

East Division Atlanta Philadelphia Miami Washington New York

W 73 65 62 60 54

L 49 58 61 64 69

Pct GB .598 — .528 8½ .504 11½ .484 14 .439 19½

Pct GB .525 — .488 4½ .488 4½ .480 5½ .407 14½

Milwaukee Chicago St. Louis Cincinnati Pittsburgh

W 75 72 62 59 60

L 48 52 61 62 64

Pct GB .610 — .581 3½ .504 13 .488 15 .484 15½

Pct GB .512 — .488 3 .463 6 .393 14½ .390 15

Los Angeles San Diego Arizona San Francisco Colorado

W 74 66 65 51 49

L 49 57 58 72 74

Pct .602 .537 .528 .415 .398

Central Division

West Division

Friday’s Games

GB — 8 9 23 25

Chicago White Sox 9, Detroit 5 Pittsburgh 8, Boston 4 Toronto 3, N.Y. Yankees 1 San Diego 7, Cleveland 5 Baltimore 6, Tampa Bay 5 Houston 10, Seattle 7, 10 innings Kansas City 7, L.A. Angels 6 Athletics 8, Texas 3

Chicago Cubs 3, St. Louis 0 Cincinnati 1, Miami 0 Pittsburgh 8, Boston 4 N.Y. Mets 4, Washington 1 Arizona 2, Atlanta 0 San Diego 7, Cleveland 5 Colorado 5, San Francisco 2 L.A. Dodgers 3, Milwaukee 1

Chicago White Sox 4, Detroit 3 Toronto 4, N.Y. Yankees 1 Baltimore 4, Tampa Bay 3, 10 innings Philadelphia at Minnesota, n Cleveland 6, San Diego 1 Seattle 10, Houston 5 Boston at Pittsburgh, n Kansas City at L.A. Angels, n Texas at Athletics, n

St. Louis 8, Chicago Cubs 4 San Francisco 7, Colorado 1 N.Y. Mets 5, Washington 4 Miami at Cincinnati, n Philadelphia at Minnesota, n San Diego at Cleveland, n Arizona at Atlanta, n Boston at Pittsburgh, n Milwaukee at L.A. Dodgers, n

Baltimore (Rogers 7-8) at Tampa Bay (Peralta 5-9), 11:15 a.m. Boston (Sandoval 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. N.Y. Yankees (Weathers 5-7) at Toronto (Cease 7-5), 12:37 p.m. Chicago White Sox (Burke 7-6) at Detroit (Anderson 4-4), 12:40 p.m. San Diego (Mize 4-7) at Cleveland (Bibee 4-12), 12:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Painter 2-8) at Minnesota (Kremer 2-4), 1:10 p.m. Texas (Bradford 0-1) at Athletics (Lopez 5-4), 3:05 p.m. Kansas City (Cameron 6-8) at L.A. Angels (Johnson 2-6), 3:07 p.m. Seattle (Woo 8-8) at Houston (Brown 3-2), 6:20 p.m.

Arizona (Soroka 8-3) at Atlanta (Elder 8-7), 12:35 p.m. Boston (Sandoval 1-1) at Pittsburgh (Skenes 9-11), 12:35 p.m. Miami (Pérez 6-9) at Cincinnati (Lodolo 3-2), 12:40 p.m. San Diego (Mize 4-7) at Cleveland (Bibee 4-12), 12:40 p.m. Washington (Irvin 2-6) at N.Y. Mets (Scott 3-3), 12:40 p.m. Philadelphia (Painter 2-8) at Minnesota (Kremer 2-4), 1:10 p.m. St. Louis (Dobbins 2-3) at Chicago Cubs (Cabrera 5-4), 2:15 p.m. Colorado (Hughes 0-4) at San Francisco (Tidwell 0-0), 3:05 p.m. Milwaukee (Henderson 6-2) at L.A. Dodgers (Skubal 7-6), 3:10 p.m.

Saturday’s Games

Sunday’s Games

Saturday’s Games

Sunday’s Games

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By PAUL BEATy

BOX SCORES N.Y. Mets 5, Washington 4

San Francisco 7, Colorado 1

Toronto 4, N.Y. Yankees 1

Washington

Colorado

New York

ab r h bi Crews rf 4 0 0 0 Chaparro 1b 2 2 1 1 Ortiz ph-1b 1 0 1 0 House 3b 4 1 1 3 Abrams ss 4 0 0 0 Ford c 3 0 0 0 Jac.Young cf 4 0 2 0 Lile dh 4 0 0 0 Nuñez 2b 4 0 1 0 Pinckney lf 2 1 1 0

ab r h bi Ewing cf 4 1 0 0 Lindor ss 4 1 2 1 Bichette 3b 4 0 1 0 Benge rf 2 1 1 1 Jar.Young 1b 4 0 2 2 Semien 2b 3 0 0 0 Baty lf 2 1 0 0 Polanco dh 4 0 1 0 Pache pr 0 1 0 0 F.Alvarez c 4 0 1 1 Robert pr 0 0 0 0 Totals 32 4 7 4 Totals 31 5 8 5 Washington 000 103 000 — 4 New York 200 001 002 — 5 DP_Washington 1, New York 1. LOB_Washington 4, New York 8. 2B_Jar.Young (11), F.Alvarez (11). 3B_Pinckney (1). HR_Chaparro (7), House (9), Benge (14). SB_Ewing (16). IP H R ER BB SO Washington Lord 2/3 1 2 2 4 1 Dion 4 1/3 0 0 0 1 7 Cosgrove H,3 1 2 1 1 0 1 Ribalta H,11 1 0 0 0 0 1 Beeter H,6 1 2 0 0 1 1 Cruz L,0-1 BS,0-2 1/3 3 2 2 1 1 New York Manaea 6 1/3 6 4 4 2 7 Núñez 1 1 0 0 0 1 Yan W,1-0 1 2/3 0 0 0 0 3 Núñez pitched to 2 batters in the 8th. HBP_Manaea (Pinckney). WP_Beeter. ABS Challenge_Yan (Ball-Conﬁrmed). Umpires_Home, Nestor Ceja; First, Willie Traynor; Second, Chris Guccione; Third, Charlie Ramos. T_2:54. A_34,737 (42,136).

San Francisco

ab r h bi ab r h bi McCarthy lf 4 0 1 0 Gilbert cf 4 2 3 3 Carrigg cf 4 0 1 1 Devers dh 5 1 1 1 Moniak dh 3 0 0 0 Eldridge 1b 4 0 1 1 Amador ph 1 0 0 0 Lee rf 3 1 2 0 Rumfield 1b 4 0 0 0 Basabe 2b 4 0 1 0 Castro 3b 4 0 1 0 Cavanaugh c3 1 0 0 Veen rf 3 0 0 0 Hill lf 3 0 0 1 Norby 2b 3 0 1 0 Kennedy 3b 3 1 1 0 Sullivan c 3 0 0 0 Koss ss 4 1 1 0 Tovar ss 3 1 1 0 33 710 6 Totals 32 1 5 1 Totals Colorado 001 000 000 — 1 San Francisco 001 600 00x — 7 LOB_Colorado 4, San Francisco 7. 2B_Norby (13), Devers (29). HR_Gilbert (6). SF_Hill (1). IP H R ER BB SO Colorado 6 3 1 Lorenzen L,3-11 3 2⁄3 4 6 1 ⁄3 3 1 1 0 0 Mushinski Gordon 4 3 0 0 0 4 San Francisco Webb W,8-7 6 4 1 1 0 7 Seymour 2 1 0 0 0 3 Smith 1 0 0 0 0 1 HBP_Lorenzen (Kennedy). WP_Mushinski. ABS Challenge_Moniak (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Koss (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Lorenzen (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Lorenzen (Ball-Confirmed); Mushinski (Ball-Overturned to Strike); Hill (Strike-Confirmed). Pitch timer violations_Rumfield (batter). Umpires_Home, John Bacon; First, Brian Walsh; Second, Gabe Morales; Third, Lance Barrett. T_2:26. A_35,069 (41,915).

Toronto

ab r h bi ab r h bi Grisham cf 3 0 0 0 Bateman cf 4 1 2 0 Rice dh 4 0 0 0 Lukes rf 3 0 1 1 Ramos lf 4 0 0 0 Kirk dh 3 0 1 1 García 1b 4 0 1 0 J.Sánchez lf 1 0 0 0 Jones rf 3 1 1 0 Straw pr-lf 2 0 0 0 Chisholm 2b 3 0 0 0 Okamoto 3b 4 0 1 0 Lombard ss 2 0 1 1 Giménez ss 4 1 1 0 McMahon 3b 3 0 0 0 Valenzuela c 3 1 0 0 Wells c 3 0 1 0 Smith 2b 2 0 0 0 Caballero pr 0 0 0 0 Clement ph-2b2 1 2 0 A.Sánchez c 0 0 0 0 McAdoo 1b 4 0 2 2 Totals 29 1 4 1 Totals 32 4 10 4 New York 010 000 000 — 1 Toronto 001 000 12x — 4 DP_New York 0, Toronto 1. LOB_New York 3, Toronto 12. 2B_McAdoo (1). SB_Jones (6). S_Lukes 2 (6). IP H R ER BB SO New York Schlittler 5 1⁄3 4 1 1 3 7 Headrick L,6-2 1 3 1 1 0 1 2 Blackburn ⁄3 0 0 0 1 1 2 Hill ⁄3 3 2 2 0 0 1 De los Santos ⁄3 0 0 0 1 0 Toronto Fisher 1 0 0 0 1 0 Tiedemann 1 2⁄3 2 1 1 0 2 Woods Richardson 2 1⁄3 0 0 0 1 2 Fluharty 1 0 0 0 0 0 Miles W,5-2 1 1 0 0 0 1 Rogers H,26 1 1 0 0 0 1 Varland S,28-29 1 0 0 0 0 3 Headrick pitched to 4 batters in the 7th. HBP_Hill (Valenzuela). Pitch timer violations_Blackburn (pitcher); De los Santos (pitcher). Umpires_Home, Nic Lentz; First, Hunter Wendelstedt; Second, Brock Ballou; Third, Vic Carapazza. T_2:44. A_42,580 (39,150).

THIS DATE IN BASEBALL Aug. 16

1920 — Shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians was hit in the head with a pitch in the fifth inning by New York’s Carl Mays. Chapman suffered a fractured skull and died the next day. It is the only field fatality in major league history. 1927 — Babe Ruth of the New York Yankees became the first player to clear the roof at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ruth’s home run came off White Sox pitcher Tommy Thomas in the 8-1 win. 1947 — Ralph Kiner hit three successive home runs to become the first Pirates player to ever accomplish the feat as Pittsburgh beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-7 at Forbes Field. 1950 — Hank Thompson hit two

inside-the-park home runs in the Giants’ 16-7 rout of the Brooklyn Dodgers at the Polo Grounds. 1967 — Jim Maloney of Cincinnati retired 19 consecutive Pirates but had to leave the game after he injured his ankle by stepping in a hole at Forbes Field. Billy McCool allowed two hits over the ﬁnal 2 2-3 innings to give the Reds a 4-0 victory over Pittsburgh. 1987 — Tim Raines of the Montreal Expos went 5-for-5 with four extra-base hits and the cycle in a 10-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 1987 — New York’s Darryl Strawberry drove in ﬁve runs with four extra-base hits to lead the Mets to a 23-10 rout of the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 1989 — Tom Drees pitched his third no-hitter of the season

for AAA Vancouver, beating Las Vegas, 5-0, in the 7-inning opener of a doubleheader. He had consecutive 1-0 no-hitters, beating Calgary in nine innings (May 23) and Edmonton in seven (May 28). 1996 — With 23,699 fans at the 25,644-seat Estadio Monterrey, the San Diego Padres defeated the New York Mets 15-10 in the ﬁrst major league regularseason game played outside the United States or Canada. 2009 — Derek Jeter hits an RBI double off Seattle’s Doug Fister in the 3rd for his 2,674th hit as a shortstop, surpassing Luis Aparicio’s all-time leading total for the position. 2011 — Albert Pujols of St. Louis reached 30 home runs for the 11th consecutive season in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to Pittsburgh.

2012 — Major League Baseball approves the sale of the San Diego Padres from John Moores to a group headed by local businessman Ron Fowler, which also includes former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley and pro golfer Phil Mickelson. The sale is for $800 million. 2013 — Grant Holman of Chula Vista, Calif. struck out 13 and became the first player to toss a no-hitter in the Little League World Series since the 85-pitch rule was put in place in 2007. 2018 — Jose Bautista hit a grand slam and had a career-high seven RBIs and the New York Mets set a franchise record for runs, forcing the Phillies to use two position players for the final three innings of a 24-4 victory in the first game of a doubleheader.

St. Louis Cardinals rookie outfielder Joshua Baez celebrates with his mother yris Carmen Baez after he hit three home runs in his MLB debut Saturday against the Chicago Cubs.

Cardinals OF Báez makes HR history in MLB debut The Associated Press CHICAGO — Joshua Báez smashed the first pitch he saw in the majors about 450 feet, then flashed a grin to the St. Louis dugout as he began his home run trot. “There was a calmness and a smile, like, ‘I’m here,’ ” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “It’s rare for me to pick my head up to enjoy parts of it. He didn’t exactly give us an option but to actually take a step back and enjoy the heck out of what was going on there.” There never has been a show quite like it. Báez became the first player to hit a home run in each of his first three at-bats in the majors, leading the Cardinals to an 8-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. Called up from Triple-A Memphis before the game, Báez had 30 members of his family in attendance at Wrigley Field. The traveling party, which included his mother, Yris, gathered on the field for photos afterward in spite of rain. “It’s just unreal,” the 23-yearold Báez said. “To not only get a hit, but three home runs? It’s crazy.” He did it with flair, too. The first

came on the first pitch he saw from Matthew Boyd and landed an estimated 449 feet away in the bleachers in left-center. The left fielder’s next at-bat ended with a solo shot down the left-field line and the third, on his ensuing atbat, went the opposite way, giving him five RBIs. Major League Baseball said Báez was the first player in modern baseball history to hit three home runs in his debut. The league cannot say with certainty whether the feat happened before 1901 because of a lack of game logs. “He hit three different pitches for home runs. He had a great game. He beat us, for sure,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. Báez showed plenty of power in the minors this season. When he was called up, he was leading all Triple-A hitters with 34 home runs, including four multihomer games. He’s the ninth player to make his major league debut for the Cardinals this season. Báez also is the 11th St. Louis player to homer in his first career at-bat (the last was Lane Thomas in 2019) and sixth in club history to homer on the first pitch. Former pitcher Adam Wainwright last did it in 2006.

LOUISIANA INSPIRED: After welcoming refugees, Slidell real estate agent joined Ukraine’s army 5D

FAITH: Sister Helen Prejean continues her work — and her writing 4D

LIVING

N O L A.C O M

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

1dn

Jan Risher

Apparently, I needed a $10 flyswatter I have bought more things in the last 11 months than I have in the last 11 years. I am not happy about that claim, but it’s true. The purchases — from a longer chain pull for a ceiling fan to an oven, refrigerator, sofa and bed — have been necessary because of our house fire in August 2025. Shopping in the wake of a fire is largely utilitarian: light fixtures, socks, rug pads, a can of spray starch, all the furniture, doors, latches, knobs, tile, sinks, flanges. I didn’t even know what a flange was, but I do know that the list goes on and on. Whatever joy I once derived from shopping is long gone. (Except for purses. I still enjoy my quest for the perfect purse.) All that said, there is one item that arrived last week that has me rejoicing — a flyswatter. I had forgotten how satisfying it is to own something that has the sole purpose of smacking a fly. For reasons not fully understood, flyswatters have been missing from our lives for years — and I’m so happy I have one again. Flyswatters played a much larger role in my childhood than they have in recent decades. I’m not exactly sure what happened to them. Where did they go? What happened to the flyswatter, a word that rhymes so perfectly with ice water — thank you, Lyle Lovett? They used to be everywhere, but my family hasn’t owned one for years. Until last week. That absence doesn’t make a lot of sense since flyswatters are quite effective at the task at hand, and flies are very much still around. Maybe because I’ve spent a lot of time at a construction site lately, I’ve noticed the glaring hole in life more. Maybe it’s because air conditioning works so much better now than it did when I was a kid. Maybe more windows have screens. My quest to learn more about the decline of flyswatters led me to Iza van Riemsdijk, a Dutch internal medicine and nephrology specialist who owns more than 3,300 of them. Her collection of very ordinary and very exceptional swats from all over the globe has been turned into a museum display in multiple countries. She launched her collection in 1989 in Japan when she spotted a bow tie-shaped pink swatter with tweezers in the handle for picking up dead flies. Riemsdijk’s internet footprint is a strange one. Along with information about interesting and mundane swatters, her website includes scholarly papers with titles like

Pianist River Eckert at his home studio in New Orleans on Aug. 3 STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER

BY KEITH SPERA

Staff writer

Is 16-year-old River Eckert the next great piano player from New Orleans?

iver Eckert will never delete the Instagram message he received as a Willow School eighth grader on Oct. 27, 2023. It read, “Hey River. You sound great. I have a question for your mom and dad.” The sender? Harry Connick Jr. The star of stage and screen had watched online videos of the River Eckert plays on a piano in his home studio in New then-13-year-old A fleur-de-lis necklace Orleans. By 3 years old, Eckert was plunking away at keys. around the neck of pianist Eckert playing New River Eckert Orleans-style piano — As a former piano prodigy himself who’d been tutored by troubled genius think Professor Longhair, James Booker, Fats James Booker, Connick was curious. Who was this new kid and how had he learned Domino, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John, Art Neville, to play like that? etc. — with the ﬂuency and feel of a much older Now 16, River Eckert has burst onto musician. ä See RIVER ECKERT, page 10D

ä See FLYSWATTER, page 11D

IN SEARCH OF NEW ORLEANS’ PAILET LAND

Century-old enclave influenced later Black settlements Pailet Land is at the far center right of this 1920s aerial photo, with the Fairgrounds and Bayou St. John at left. PROVIDED PHOTO FROM THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION

BY RICHARD CAMPANELLA Contributing writer

Voscoville. Walkertown. Oakdale. Soxahaus. Freetown. The Cut. Amesville. Harlem. Sugar Hill. Tunisburg. Zion City. These and other neighborhood nicknames have histories as ﬂuid as their geographies. They often arise in marginalized spaces, particularly in the “back

such as Voscoville, Walkertown, Harlem, Sugar Hill, Tunisburg and Zion City have been revived, often with signage and civic associations. Still others, such as of town,” and may connote pride, The Cut in the 7th Ward, serve endearment or disparagement. as insider lingo. Vernacular toponyms are culturAnd then there is the enigmatic Pailet Land — alternately Pailetally meaningful. Some, like Freetown, Soxahaus land, Pailet Lane, Paillet Lane, and Amesville, have disapä See GEOGRAPHIES, page 11D peared from the dialect. Others

2D ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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DINING SCENE

Bookshops double as bars, cafes for a taste of life offline A nice drink, a good meal and a great read might be some of the best uses of time. Combining them has a multiplier effect I ﬁnd rejuvenating. Around New Orleans, there are now a number of places combining books with food and drink for just such a spell, makIan ing a visit feel like McNulty more than a meal WHAT’S and much more COOKING than a shopping errand. In the rapacious online marketplace for our attention span, logging out with a paper book and a bite — and maybe a glass — can feel almost radical, like turning the tables by turning a page. Here’s where I’ve been visiting for that experience.

mander’s Palace a block away, or they loop back in after brunch for a shop and a drink. Regulars greet the free-roaming shop dog, Pete, while the bartender pours another glass of bubbly. The Garden District Book Shop has a special connection to the legacy of the late novelist Anne Rice, who had a home nearby. The shop still has a collection of autographed books, and there’s a tribute cocktail on the Bar Epilogue list called the vampire’s kiss, a darkly seductive blend of bourbon, ﬁg liqueur and cherry. The house wine is cheap and cheerful at $6 a glass and $25 a bottle (essentially all-day happy hour pricing) and there’s highershelf wine too.

A ‘reading lounge’ STAFF PHOTOS By IAN MCNULTy

Pivot to brunch

The shelves of The Garden District Book Shop open to its in-house lounge, Bar Epilogue, in The Rink building in New Orleans.

People were predicting a digital doom for bookshops back when Octavia Books (513 Octavia St.) opened in 2000. Instead, there’s been a revival, and this shop in particular has been thriving. There have been different restaurants next door through the years, but a recent renovation and expansion of Octavia Books has created a delightful new interplay with the latest to open in that space, Café Malou (5433 Laurel St.). A bank of pivot doors that double as bookshelves open on their hinges to connect directly to the restaurant. Of course, the shelves are stocked with cookbooks. Someone who arrives just for brunch will inevitably discover the colorful shop just through the doors, and someone wandering the retail aisles might ﬁnd a favorite new brunch spot, or maybe just a brown butter chocolate chip cookie to go. Café Malou serves breakfast and lunch with a warm sense of style and a menu anyone would want to ﬁnd around the corner, and might cross neighborhoods to try. A top dish is baked grits a la carbonara, which recruits the hearty Italian classic for a brunch role, with baked eggs and thickcut smoky bacon pieces between pecorino grits. Breads from the newly revived

The shelves at Octavia Books pivot open to connect to Café Malou, a separate but connected cafe for breakfast and lunch in New Orleans. local Bellegarde Bakery brand are excellent across the board, whether as the foundation of a mushroom melt sandwich or a hunk of country loaf to soak up the buttery juices of the roasted shrimp Malou. There’s often a wait for a table at Café Malou, which naturally means time to browse for the next book.

Books and bar under the rafters The Garden District Book Shop occupies just one part of The Rink (2727 Prytania St.), the 19thcentury roller skating rink long

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ago converted to an arcade of shops and ofﬁces. There’s an open ﬂow through the common space between them, all under high rafters and skylights, connecting both a standalone cafe and a bar run by the same bookshop proprietors. The Chicory House is a counterservice cafe with cozy window seats and more tables on an indoor terrace leading up to the bookshop. The daytime menu runs through biscuit sandwiches and breakfast bowls, fancy grilled cheese, soups and salads. Bar Epilogue is a newer addi-

Historic Home Specialist Associate Broker/Realtor

Crustless quiche is a popular house specialty at Café Malou. tion, built within the bookshop, and it feels like a library lounge with a full cocktail list and its own short menu of snacks and sandwiches. People browse the shelves one minute, and ﬁnd themselves at the bar the next, ordering a drink, a bowl of marinated feta or the uncommonly delicious lemon sumac popcorn. The Rink is where some Garden District walking tours gather, and tourists are often delighted to discover a bar within the bookstore. Locals make it a stop en route to reservations at Com-

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4626 ST. CHARLES AVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $2,300,000 7463 DOMINICAN ST. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,255,000 2100 JEFFERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,150,000 2202 WIRTH PLACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $875,000 1507-09 JEFFERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $825,000 2820 CALHOUN ST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $675,000 132 DROLLA PARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $505,000 2314 CALHOUN B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $265,000

3206 ST. CHARLES AVE. $2,249,000 928 ST. ANN

$1,998,000

717 TOULOUSE ST.

$465,000

Just a half block off beautiful St Charles Ave steps from the Latter Library, this 2 story home features a huge living room with a gorgeous carved marble mantel, opening to the dining room with 2 corner cabinets and opens to the back yard. Wood floors throughout, extra-large lot with front lawn and rear covered patio. Upstairs primary bedroom has a large balcony. 3 bedrooms 2.5 baths. 2934 square feet living area.

1022 TOULOUSE BC-22

1410 JACKSON AVE.

$1,498,000 604 ESPLANADE #102

$445,500 916 ORLEANS

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$870,000

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1BD, 1BA MAIN HOUSE. 1BD, 1BA GUEST HOUSE. COCKTAIL POOL. STEPS TO AUDUBON PARK/ZOO.

Fabulous Victorian steps from Jefferson Ave. Large lot and tree shaded side yard. Gorgeous wide online floors, high ceilings, beautiful fireplaces, 3800 square feet living area, renovated about 20 years ago. Primary suite downstairs, 2 bedrooms and bath up. Stunning in every way!

1628 DUFOSSAT • $849,000

3 BED, 3 BATH, W/ OFFICE BIG BACK YARD

NEAR OCHSNER HOSPITAL

703 AUDUBON TRACE #703 | $280,000

G DIN N PE

3519 OCTAVIA | $375,000

FOR LEASE

Beautiful Victorian condo across the street from Coliseum Square. Magnificent architectural details- pine floors, 13 foot ceilings, 3 gorgeous fireplaces, and carved wood wainscotting on walls and celing. Breathtaking, huge great room, bright and airy newly renovated kitchen, 2 large bedrooms, 2 full baths, gated parking adjacent to condo front door, large pool and tree-shaded brick patio. 1330 square feet living area. Come enjoy easy living with plenty of charm!

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2622 LOWERLINE | $799,000

FANTASTIC LOCATION! 1 BLK TO ST CHARLES, FULLY RENOVATED ARTS & CRAFTS COTTAGE 1 BLK TO NAPOLEON, CORNER LOT, GATED WITH DESIGNER KITCHEN IN QUIET NEIGHBORHOOD. PARKING. LIVE & POTENTIAL 3BD, METICULOUSLY RESTORED. $2700 MONTHLY INCOME.

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Email Ian McNulty at imcnulty@theadvocate.com.

Love Where You Live

LETTY ROSENFELD

840 Elysian Fields Ave., New Orleans LA 70117 Licensed in Louisiana

NOLA Art Bar (2128 St. Claude Ave.) has a collection of art based around Black artists from New Orleans. But after a renovation and relaunch this year, the Faubourg Marigny nightspot is also dedicated to the pleasure of settling in with a book and cocktail together. Proprietor D.J. Johnson calls NOLA Art Bar a “reading lounge.” He also created Baldwin & Co. (1030 Elysian Fields Ave.), the adjacent bookstore and coffee shop. With its “nerd chic” style and frequent events centered on Black authors and other literary stars, it has become a hub for creatives. Johnson heard from people who wanted a place to keep conversations going after events at the bookshop. That got him thinking of the need for social spaces devoted to quieter pursuits than clubs or pubs. Think of the new NOLA Art Bar, then, as Baldwin & Co. after dark. Sofas and easy chairs plot out spaces for small groups to gather. Glowing shelves ﬁlled with books line the walls, with art displayed between them. The bar is focused on wine and cocktails, with a selection of nonalcoholic drinks as well, including tea and a menu of snacks, like charcuterie and cheese boards. Whatever patrons have in hand, though, many also have books, sometimes stacks of them.

Impressive 2 story on large, tree-shaded corner lot. Beautiful pine floors, high ceilings, and wonderful natural light in a demand location in the heart of Uptown. Spacious formal rooms, den with fireplace, large, sunny kitchen with breakfast area, 5 bedrooms - 1 downstairs, 3 full baths, very large back yard, and driveway. 3359 square feet living area.

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 3D

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School is back in business, but before the 2026-2027 session, a round of fun fundraisers closed out the year-earlier calendar.

Chris and Merri Haines, Wendy and Bill Haines

Nell Nolan

PHOTOS By JEFF STROUT

SOCIETY

n Tomorrow Starts Here Invitees were asked to mark their calendars and shine their dancing shoes for the annual Art & Soul Gala hosted by the Meraux and NOCCA foundations and held on the NOCCA campus. The Auction Sponsors were Hancock Whitney, The Holt Family Foundation, Mark Kline and Andrea Giacomino, Lupin Foundation, and Emily and Scott Wolfe, while those in the Variety Show category were Marie and James Cahn, Entergy, Imagine Discovery, and Dianne Way-Ricks and Dr. Joe Ricks. Manny Bright and Sally Shushan were the Starring Role names to note. This year, as the gala looked to NOCCA’s future, it showcased blue, silver and white as thematic colors. The invitation stated, “Come in cool white linen, bluestriped seersucker, a sparkly silver jumpsuit, or anything else — as long as it leaves you plenty of room to dance!” The colors were reﬂected in the backdrops and linens from Perrier Party Rentals and in AudioNOLA’s evocative lighting. Fun feminine focus turned to the Merry Antoinettes who put everyone in a bubbly mood, and to Gwendolyn Events’ Xchaunxyz Chappell, a sparkling, onewoman glitter station. Answering the exhortation to dance, attendees did so to the music of the New Breed Brass Band,

Contact: nnolan@theadvocate.com

Shanekah Johnson, Rachel Jordan, Deanna Rodriguez founded by NOCCA alum Trombone Shorty; Sweet Crude with alumni Alexis Marceaux, Sam Craft, and Jack Craft; and the NOCCA All-Star Legends, including Jonathan Bloom, Julian Garcia, Clarence Johnson, Stephanie Jordan, Darryl Lavigne, and Chris Severin. Nodding to the next generation, the Legends invited current Jazz student River Eckert to join them for a number or two.

Adam and Katie Matasar, Johmyrin Johnson

Phillip and Janice Manuel the penning of poems. Auction action was to the festive fore, with art, restaurants and boutiques as attractions. Top lots were a dinner for 10 curated by James Beard Awardwinning chef Stephen Stryjewski; a vintage Gibson guitar; and handcrafted wooden vessels by Lee Area. The auction also featured a number of arts classes for grownups that will take place this fall at NOCCA. Time for mom and dad to paint the town! Concerning cuisine, the buffet ranged from savory to sweet, with a roasted pig and a red velvet “doner cake-bab” spinning atop the dessert station.

Additional NOCCA students got into the overall act, with recognition to those from Culinary Arts, who planned and prepared the buffet; Jazz, who serenaded arrivals; Visual Arts, for guests’ portraits; and Creative Writing,

n Glamarama “Join us for HNJ Gala 2026” stated the invitation that marqueed “Glamour Shots” and Vals on Freret Street as the venue. Guests at the fundraiser for the historic Holy Name of Jesus School, which was founded in 1891, imbibed a 1980s-themed atmosphere. Boomboxes, cassette tapes and other musical ephemera were in decorative colors PHOTOS By REAGAN LAQUE of bright blues and Mary Beth Green, Emilie Moseley, Katie Baxter purples. Pat Garin Photographer LLC provided party pics of the bash brigade, many outfitted in looks of the ’80s and ’90s. As a fashion fillip, attendees purchased fluorescent green, yellow or pink hats airbrushed by an on-site artist. Taste treats were numerous with tacos, guacamole, churros and frozen margaritas readily consumed. More action centered around the 108-items silent Brandon and Madison Hebert, Kirsch Williams, auction, featuring a the Rev. Mark Thibodeaux Destin, Florida, stay, and the 50/50 raffle. Top sponsors were First Horizon Bank (and Daniel Maurin), Mathes Brierre Architects (and William Tregre,Angela Morton, Sean Knowlton, and Joyce Bergman), and Ryan Gootee Angela Morton General Contractors (and Brandon Hebert). Among the 200 making party rounds were then HNJ Pastor the Rev. Mark E.Thibodeaux, S.J., school principal Kirsch J.Williams and Dr. Mark Williams, gala chair Emilie Moseley with Philip, and aucWill Tregre, Joyce Bergman tion committee Mary Beth Green, Katie Baxter, and Kate Kelley Bibens. All turned an attentive ear to the DJ, who mixed tunes from the ’80s and ’90s for “Glamour Shots” gyrations.

Peter and Marcelle Connick, Logan and Robert Senior PHOTOS By DENNIS NGUyEN

n Baja Night

Peter Kernion, Paige Culotta, Sean Tynan

Bridget and Karl Senner

Phillip and Sarah Petitto

MAKE K

Once again, Stuart Hall School for Boys played up its official mascot’s name, Knight (now known as Sir Bobby), and titled its annual auction “Baja Knight.” It was presented by Manning Family Children’s LCMC Health. Decorations followed suit, as did the cuisine, which included, among other appetizers, tapas by Barcar during the 6 p.m. patron party presented by Ochsner Health, and for the main merriment, Felipe’s Mexican Taqueria and drinks from an open bar. “Bright, coastal attire” was requested — and observed. One of the most extensive auctions on the school circuit, this one offered a plethora of enticements, thanks to auction co-chairs Marcelle Connick and Logan Senior. Rob Senior, Logan’s husband, chairs the SHS board and Peter S. Kernion, Ed.D. is the head of school. Louise Smallpage and Rachel Turnage co-chaired the patron party. The Morstead Family and the Seniors were among the top sponsors, along with Rachel and Benton Turnage. The subcommittee chairs were Anne Angelico, Meredith Claiborne,Alysha Colfry, Lauren Flanagan, Paige Grob, Shelley Harris, Sarah Haydel, Joanie Hodnette,Wendi Luke, Caroline Marshall, E. Lee Mead, Sarah Petitto, and Elisa Segura. As the fun ensued, many real chairs were vacated as folks flocked to the floor for DJ Brett‘s sounds.

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Mastheaders for the “Future” mirth included Wendy Haines and NOCCA Foundation board member Bill Haines, representing the Meraux Foundation; Art & Soul co-chairs Janice and Phillip Manuel, Katie and Adam Matasar, and Claire Elizabeth Thriffiley and H.Allen Johnson; Shanekah Johnson, NOCCA Foundation board president, and Johmyrin; and Gary Solomon Jr., NOCCA board president, and Seth Bloom. Also, NOCCA co-founder Shirley Trusty Corey, alumnus Brandan “Bmike” Odums, Lucy Burnett and foundation board member Gregory Holt, the above Cahns, Kimiyo and Theron Williams, Bruce and Denise Germer, Kathy and Steve Price, Karen Walk, and Florence Wingerter with alum son Philip, who also answers to NOCCA faculty member. Gala committee members included Anna Donnell,Ashley Floyd,Trista Friloux,Ashly McCord, PJ Morton, Kristin Shannon, Stephen Stryjewski, Regine Villain, and Emily Wolfe. Most were sighted. Fun breeds fun. As the gala concluded, another round of spirited socializing commenced, thanks to the two-hour Alumni After-Party. And another chance to dance.

4D ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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FAITH

‘The dignity of all life’ At 87, Sister Helen Prejean continues her work and her writing

Sister Helen Prejean

BY BOB WARREN

seem to some that she is taking sides. Now, in addition to the advocacy work, she also tries to prioritize the needs of a victim’s family, making sure to reach out to them when she becomes a prisoner’s adviser. “It’s just unbelievable, the dark mystery they’ve been plunged into,” she says of the families. “Here, your loved one’s alive, and by that night at 10 o’clock, they’re dead … And they (the victims’ families) need healing help.”

Staff writer

It’s been more than three decades since Sister Helen Prejean’s ﬁrst book, “Dead Man Walking,” chronicled her experiences as spiritual adviser to two men on Louisiana’s death row. Her gritty depiction of their executions renewed the nation’s debate over capital punishment. Prejean is 87 now, an age where most folks have long called it a career. Not her. The Catholic nun, a Baton Rouge native and New Orleans resident, recently helped produce a graphicnovel adaptation of her best-known book with the aim of reaching a new, younger audience. She’s also writing a new book, about another man on Louisiana’s death row, Manuel Ortiz, who was convicted in the 1992 murder of his wife and another woman in Kenner. Do nuns ever retire? “This one doesn’t,” she said during a recent interview in the small New Orleans apartment where she lives and works amid her many books and papers. Next year will mark 70 years since she joined the Congregation of St. Joseph. She doesn’t plan to slow down. But a quick nap isn’t a bad idea between appointments. “That chair right there,” she said, pointing to an upholstered recliner, next to a TV tray covered with books. “It kicks out.” She is committed as ever to talking about her work and the death penalty. The speaking engagements continue, probably “20 or 30 a year,” though more are now done online. And, of course, there’s the new book. “Well, Random House is cutting me a lot of slack,” she said. “So I kind of decided we’re going to try to get a manuscript to them by the end of December.” She said she draws strength and inspiration from prayer. Some of the art on the walls of her ofﬁce also carry spiritual messages. A print of Fra Angelico’s “Annunciation” hangs near her computer — the Archangel Gabriel telling the Virgin Mary she will give birth to Jesus. “But we get small annunciations to do God’s work all the time,” Prejean says. “Dead Man Walking” has sold more than 800,000 copies, she says. The 1995 movie version starred Sean Penn as a death-row inmate and Susan Sarandon as Prejean. Sarandon won an Academy Award for it. Prejean still marvels at the reach her book has had. She said she spoke recently with a student, an eighth grader, who

‘Trust your artist’

STAFF PHOTOS By DAVID GRUNFELD

Some items in Sister Helen Prejean’s home office in New Orleans include a photo from the 1995 film based on her book, ‘Dead Man Walking.’ told her she had read “Dead Man Walking” three times. Prejean was ﬂoored. “It’s a heavy book,” she said. As she often does in interviews, Prejean refers to her Cajun roots as she describes the feelings she had when that ﬁrst book was conceived. In short, she thought it would be a waste of time. “It just seemed passive,” she said of the thought that people would want to read what she wrote. “We’re from Louisiana — we talk. We tell stories.”

‘God woke me up’ Prejean says public opinion continues to shift toward opposing the death penalty, and notes that keeping the debate going helps move it further in that direction. The Catholic Church has increasingly opposed capital punishment and supports abolishing it; in 2018 Pope Francis revised the catechism to affirm that all uses of the death penalty are “inadmissible.” Prejean cites recent Gallup polls showing a 52% approval rate for the death penalty, down from a peak of 84% in 1994. Twenty-three states do not allow capital punishment. Nineteen people have been executed in four states in the U.S in 2026, all by lethal injection. Twelve were in Florida and four were in Texas. The last person to be executed in Louisiana was Jessie Dean Hoffman Jr., who was convicted in the 1996 rape and murder of a woman

in St. Tammany Parish. His March 2025 execution was Louisiana’s first in 15 years. Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill both support the death penalty, saying it fulfills promises made to victims’ families. Prejean, who joined her order in 1957, describes her early life as one with blinders on, a life where she had very little recognition of issues such as racial prejudice, even though she lived in the segregated South. Moving into the St. Thomas public housing development in New Orleans in 1982, where she worked with the poor and saw the difficulties in their lives, was pivotal. “I’m still so grateful God woke me up,” she said, explaining her transformation from someone who talked about religion to a person who tries to live the teachings of

Jesus. Another eye-opener came later that year, when she began corresponding with Patrick Sonnier, who was on death row after being convicted in the rape and murder of a teenage couple in New Iberia. After witnessing Sonnier’s 1984 execution in the electric chair, Prejean initially said, “Never again.” She vomited after the execution. But months later she was back at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, this time corresponding with and visiting Robert Lee Willie, another man convicted of murder. “Dead Man Walking” chronicles Prejean’s time with Sonnier and Willie, but since then, she has been spiritual adviser for six additional executed inmates. “You have to be really clear: What’s your job and what’s God’s job?” she said when asked to describe her work with death-row inmates, including accompanying them their executions. “What’s your job? What’s the boundary of what you can do? I know my job is to give dignity and to respect them. That’s what I do.” As the new adaptation makes clear, Prejean doesn’t shy away from what she considers the missteps in her early work. She said she very painfully learned the devastation felt by crime victims’ families, and the hurt they sometimes feel over her work with the men on death row. She said she understands it can

The graphic novel took six years to complete. Rose Vines wrote the book’s script and Catherine Anyango Grünewald did the illustrations. It includes some updated information on the death penalty and decades of court decisions surrounding it. Two recurring characters, an owl and an ant, make appearances to offer comment throughout the book. Any good book can transport a reader to another place, Prejean said. “But the difference here is that you can go between the picture and thinking about it, and the words about it.” S h e p r a i s e d Vi n e s a n d Grünewald’s work. The three conferred often, “but they really did the work.” Prejean spent less time with Grünewald on the illustrations. She recalled Sarandon’s advice to her, decades ago, about such matters: “Here’s the thing you gotta do. You gotta trust your artist,” Prejean said. Prejean spends much of her day writing in her apartment-ofﬁce, at a computer with a view of the bird feeder on a small patio outside. The working title of the book she is now writing is “Cry Justice: The Ordeal of Manuel Ortiz and the Louisiana Justice System.” Ortiz, a native of El Salvador, was convicted of ﬁrst- and seconddegree murder in the 1992 killings of his wife, Tracie Williams Ortiz, and Cheryl Mallory, in Kenner. Prosecutors said Ortiz hired someone to kill his wife so he could collect insurance money. Prejean believes he is innocent and has been his spiritual adviser for a couple of decades. As she advocates for Ortiz, Prejean says she will continue to work to abolish the death penalty. “I’ve got a lot more to go ahead (of me),” she said. “And I feel there’s hope in the Gospel message about the dignity of all life, and that we can grow. So mostly, I do have hope.” Reporter Bob Warren writes about faith and spirituality in Louisiana. Contact him at bwarren@theadvocate.com.

Five north La. priests move step closer to canonization BY LIZ SWAINE

Staff writer

SHREVEPORT — While it is true that New Orleans is the home of the Saints, it may not always be the only Louisiana city to make that claim. Five priests who lived and died in north Louisiana in 1873 have been formally accepted by the Vatican and are currently in the “Roman Phase” of the process of sainthood. For years, the story of the men, who are also referred to as the Five Martyrs, was little known. They were young priests from Europe who volunteered to come to Shreveport to minister to the sick and dying during a virulent Yellow Fever epidemic. Each knew the dangers, and each, eventually, died in the short outbreak that also killed a quarter of the city’s population.

The story of the priests is now the subject of three books and a graphic novel, but was mostly unknown until the work of historian and retired Louisiana State University Shreveport history professor Cheryl White and others. A documentary, “The Five Priests,” was named the 2021 Best Feature Documentary at the White Cannes World Film Festival. Their story is one worth repeating, said the Rev. Duane Trombetta of downtown’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which is home to a Minor Shrine to the Five Priests. “They were serving people regardless of the people’s faith practices. They just wanted to be there to offer a word of kindness, intercessory prayers, a cold compress,

a glass of water, and they were doing so without regard to others’ backgrounds, histories, or faith practices,” Trombetta said. “So, we believe that alone is an important part of their legacy.” Another part of the legacy of the ﬁve — Isidore Quemerais, Louis Gergaud, Jean Pierre, Jean-Marie Biler, and François LeVézouët — is that each knew they were coming to a place they would likely never leave. Trombetta said the Minor Shrine has drawn visitors from across the U.S. and Europe to their 130-yearold church, which was also named a Pilgrimage Destination for the church’s Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025. Sainthood for the priests could bring many more visitors. It is never a quick process, said White. The deeds of the ﬁve are making their way through the steps to canonization. Right now,

they are considered “Servants of God.” “At this phase, what it means is that it’s no longer Shreveport, Louisiana. It’s no longer a diocesan process. It is now under the authority of the Holy See. So they will take everything that we sent and will now begin the process of producing a scientiﬁc biography of all ﬁve of our priests that will be presented to Pope Leo,” explained White. “Venerable is the next title,” and is a decision of the pope, said White. “But once they are venerable, then you know it’s the matter of just waiting on a miracle.” Louisiana currently has no canonized saints, nor do Texas or Arkansas. There are only 11 in the United States, which includes Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who did not live in the United States but did establish missionary houses here. White is hopeful: “We have been

told, verbally told this by people within the dicastery, that ours is ‘a beautiful cause.’ They were very struck by the actions of our ﬁve priests, you know, in those extreme historical conditions. That every single one of them made the decision to offer their life in succession is a truly remarkable, and I think standout story.” Trombetta said the speed of the canonizations doesn’t matter as much as the narrative the ﬁve created for Shreveport and northwest Louisiana. “The story remains that they truly lived lives of heroic virtue, and they did serve the sick, and it made our city something that we would consider a city of heroes.” “Their mark, their legacy on the city of Shreveport makes their story far beyond just a Catholic story or just a story of priests,” he said. “That really leaves its mark on our city.”

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ 5D

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LOUISIANA INSPIRED

‘A pull on my heart’ BY JENNA ROSS

Staff writer

Nichole Robichaux was a real estate agent in Slidell. Now, she’s a medic in Ukraine. Six months after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, her family welcomed a pair of refugees into their Louisiana home. She advocated for Ukraine in Washington, D.C. She studied the Ukrainian language. But she felt a deep calling — one she has trouble explaining, still — to do more. Last year, she traveled to Kharkiv to deliver medical supplies: bandages and splints, hand warmers and antibacterial ointment. She experienced the country’s cities and met its people. As sirens wailed, she got a tattoo. “It felt like I was completely at home,” she said back in October, during an interview in a Slidell coffee shop. “Nothing felt foreign to me. … “I actually felt more at home in Ukraine, really, than I do here.” So she made a decision: She’d study to become a medic, then join the war effort. In February, she enlisted in the Ukrainian army. The 46-year-old spoke by phone in late July about work, fear and the sirens that no longer keep her up at night. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken. Could you place me where you are in the country, in the city, in the room? I’m in eastern Ukraine, on the border of the Donbas and Kharkiv regions. My unit operates mostly in the Donetsk area. So I stay out here and do evacuations when we have injuries or, unfortunately, deaths. And then I also do a lot of tactical medicine training for soldiers. Did you expect training to be a piece of what you would do? I didn’t, actually. Most of my days are in the classroom. I ﬁnished my EMT program

Slidell real estate agent joined Ukraine’s army, aiding soldiers as a medic on the front line

Q&A WITH NICHOLE ROBICHAUX

soldiers who are hurt. Or we also go on reconnaissance missions. Two weeks ago, we had to do one on foot, which was miserable because we were being followed by Russian drones the whole time. We had to cross a big, open field, which is the worst thing to be doing with drones in the area. About two minutes after we crossed the field, a drone came over us. Luckily, we were hidden in the tree line by that time. What does that feel like, in your body and in your mind? It’s kind of an out-of-body experience, because you’re like, ‘What am I doing? This drone is trying to kill me.’ It’s hard to explain. I didn’t even get scared at the time, which is really weird. It’s just so bizarre, the feeling of having PROVIDED PHOTO someone hunting you. Russia’s Rubicon unit, which is Slidell resident Nichole Robichaux studied to be an EMT in order to their big drone force, is operatserve in Ukraine as a medic. ing in our area now, so we are getting a lot more injuries lately. and took my tests. Then I had to Remind me: What was your medical train- Two guys in my battalion died do video testing to complete the two weeks ago, and it was pretty ing or experience before this? program, as I was getting here. gruesome. They were guys I had I had worked for my dad, who Then I went on to do some more worked with, because they were was a doctor. Medicine has altraining in tactical medicine once ways been in my blood. on the evacuation team. So it was I came to Ukraine, because those disheartening to learn about their My sister had a bone marrow are more useful skills for what passing. It just makes you angry, transplant when she was 9 years we’re doing over here. It’s called old and I was 25. I lived in the hos- because it’s just all so tragic. Tactical Combat Casualty Care What are you seeing there on the front pital with her as she went through training, and it was created by the that process, which was about lines? What do you want people to know U.S. military and adapted to this about what you’re seeing? three months in isolation in the war. We teach these skills to as There’s actually people still children’s oncology unit. many soldiers as possible, so that living in some of these villages, So when you were thinking about how to they can provide first aid and first be of service to Ukraine, it made sense to some civilians. We, in the milicare until a medic can arrive. do so as a medic? tary, don’t understand. Why are That way, they can keep each I just kind of felt the pull on my you still living here? other alive. heart. Especially once I visited But they don’t want to leave Can you give me an example of a tactical here. When I came here and met their homes. A lot of them are elmedicine approach? Something you hadn’t the people here and saw what derly and they don’t feel like they learned while training to be an EMT? they were living with every day should have to leave, even though It starts with stopping massive — that’s when I knew I had to do it’s extremely dangerous. bleeding. Something like 85 to something major. When you’re driving in, you’re 88% of preventable battlefield When you’re not in the classroom, what’s driving past destroyed car after deaths here are caused by masa typical day like? destroyed car, and you’re just Some days, if we have a call hoping your car isn’t the next one sive hemorrhage. So stopping of an injury, we have to go close to get hit. Your driver drives fast, massive bleeding is the No. 1 to the front line and pick up our and you hold onto your seat. priority.

Who are you serving alongside? Are they mostly international? Mostly Ukrainian? In my department, it’s all Ukrainians. But I have a lot of international soldiers in my unit. So it’s a mix. Ukrainians are always so grateful to meet someone who comes here just to help, for the idealism of it. I wish we had more support in the U.S. for Ukraine. It’s difficult being here and not being able to explain it. But they appreciate my individual contributions and understand the difference between the person and the country. And they’re appreciative of the past support. That’s one thing that always touches me. I see a lot of troops wearing American flags on their plate carriers, their body armor, still. You held off on leaving Louisiana until your two kids were a little older and could better understand your reasons. How has it been for them? It’s been difficult. I missed my son’s graduation from high school, and that was really hard. And my younger son is not happy I’m here. They both support Ukraine and understand the reasons I’m here. But it’s really hard to have your mom go and sign up for this work. Do you still feel at home there? Definitely. I definitely do feel very much at home here. Now that I live closer to the front, we get constant sirens — all the time. It’s more trying. Although much of it fades into the background. The aerial sirens I don’t even hear anymore. If it’s at night, I just kind of roll over and fall asleep. But it’s harrowing, living in a situation where you’re constantly hearing about people in your city being injured. Contact reporter Jenna Ross at jenna.ross@theadvocate.com.

Powering Progress A New Home for Discovery, Research and Collaboration at LSU

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Pictured L to R: Rob Stuart, LSU Real Estate and Facilities Foundation President & CEO; Wade Rousse, LSU President; Rochelle Touchard, Shell, Corporate Relations Regional Lead; Colette Hirstius, Shell USA, President; Lee Stockwell, Shell, General Manager, Carbon Capture and Storage North America; Krista Raney, LSU Foundation President & CEO; Robb Brumﬁeld, LSU College of Science Interim Dean

“The opening of the LSU Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building is a testament to the power of partnership and what can be achieved when industry and academia come together around a shared vision.

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We are proud to support a space where students, faculty and industry can collaborate to drive discovery, explore new frontiers and develop the next generation of scientists, engineers and energy leaders.” – Colette Hirstius, President, Shell USA

shell.us/louisiana | #PoweringProgress

6D ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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BOOKS

ä For area book events, go to

WWW.NOLA.COM/ENTERTAINMENT_LIFE/ BOOKS

‘A VESSEL AND CONDUIT OF DIVINE POWER’ New biography sheds light on Mahalia Jackson’s role in the Civil Rights Movement

BY RIEN FERTEL Contributing writer

”Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher: The Story of an American Civil Rights Pioneer,” by Timothy B.Tyson and Mary D.Williams, Liveright, 256 pages. Of the many celebrities and civil rights luminaries who attended and performed at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963, Mahalia JackReview son was a singular, uniting force. The “World’s Greatest Gospel Singer” was a superstar of stage, screen and the recording studio, having launched a niche musical genre to mainstream success two decades earlier. Before that, the New Orleansborn artist had become a leading civil rights champion, bridging the sacred with the unholy realm that is American politics. The march’s organizers scheduled Jackson toward the end of a long day, knowing her rendition of “I’ve Been ’Buked and I’ve Been Scorned” — never shy to sing, she added an impromptu performance of “How I Got Over” — would reenergize the crowd of 250,000-plus for the program’s final speaker, her friend Martin Luther King Jr. As the reverend wrapped up his prepared notes, Jackson, seated on the dais to his immediate left, shouted out in the interactive, call-and-response exchange of the Black church: “Tell ’em about the dream, Martin!” For the next six minutes, King improvised, expanding on a theme explored in his recent speeches: “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.” Though there’s debate whether King registered Jackson’s rallying call, his speech would become one of the most famous in history. This flip side of the celebrated singer, the unsung political activist, is the subject of Timothy B. Tyson and Mary D. Williams’ new biography, “Mahalia Jackson, Moving On Up a Little Higher.” “Tragically neglected as a major civil rights pioneer,” they write, Jackson “deserves to be remembered in the same breath

Martin Luther King Jr.

FILE PHOTO

as many of the most prominent leaders in the movement.” More scholarship on Jackson is sorely needed, and Tyson and Williams make for an interesting team. He is a bestselling historian, most recently of “The Blood of Emmett Till” (2017), a book that resulted in the reopening of a Justice Department investigation into Till’s 1955 Mississippi lynching, as well as charges of spurious research on the author’s part. She is a gospel singer and civil rights scholar. Together they have taught a series of community courses throughout North Carolina titled “The South in Black and White,” which led to their most recent collaboration. Mahala Jackson — she would add the ‘i’ later in life, as if willing herself to stardom — was born in 1911, in a three-room shotgun brimming with her mother’s sisters and their children, located along the levee of the Black Pearl section of Uptown New Orleans. At age 5, Halie, as she was called, was orphaned and left to the watchful eyes of her network of aunts and the family’s two houses of worship: Plymouth Rock Baptist, where she’d started singing in the children’s choir a year earlier, and Mt. Moriah Baptist (unfortunately, the authors mistakenly conﬂate the two churches, both of which remain in operation today). At the time, the Black church, in the authors’ telling, was hardly the place for a young civil rights activist in the making. Jackson’s version of the gospel blues — heavily inﬂuenced by Blues Empress Bessie Smith, her guiding light of a more secular sort — would forever earn the derision of more conservative congrega-

tions, who accused her of sneaking “the devil’s music” into the Lord’s sanctuary. Tyson and Williams credit a teacher at McDonough 24, Orlando Capitola Ward, a Black activist who would later become the founding editor of the Louisiana Weekly (still one of the nation’s most notable Black newspapers), for Jackson’s early political awakening. He exposed the teenager to “a passionate sympathy for the Black working class and a rare openness to interracial coalition politics.” In the winter of 1931, a 20-yearold Mahalia accompanied an aunt to Chicago, joining the more than half a million Black Southerners who relocated to the Windy City during the Great Migration. Homesick and freezing, she again found refuge in the House of the Lord, joining the congregation

and choir at the Greater Salem Baptist Church. There, Jackson quickly linked up with two tireless men who had ﬂed Jim Crow Georgia for Chicago: Thomas Dorsey and William L. Dawson. The former was a prodigious composer of gospel songs, the latter the leader in the city’s burgeoning Black political machine. Together, they pushed the young New Orleans transplant in the dual directions that would deﬁne the rest of her life. From these beginnings, Tyson and Williams trace Jackson’s twin trajectories at a dizzying pace. Dawson encouraged her to stump for politicians near and far, including presidential hopeful Franklin D. Roosevelt. Alongside Dorsey, Jackson traveled the Baptist circuit, performing for churches and conventions nationwide.

In 1947 Jackson would record the song that made her an icon: “Move On Up a Little Higher.” Written by Memphis minister William Herbert Brewster, the smash hit anticipated the era of nonviolent mobilization to come: “March all around God’s altar / Gonna walk and never get tired / Gonna fly, Lord, and never falter / I’m gonna move up a little higher.” It remains the bestselling gospel single of all time, with upward of eight million copies sold. For the next quarter-century, until her death in 1972, Jackson was a bona fide celebrity and civil rights champion. She used her gravitas to insist on Black political power and economic uplift, and her capital to fund Mahalia Jackson’s Glori-Fried Chicken, a fast-food franchise that aimed to foster entrepreneurship and build wealth within the Black community. Despite Tyson and Williams’s best efforts to recast their subject as a preeminent civil rights activist, their biography too often feels like a career highlight reel. They portray Jackson’s principles but not her passions — what she did but not who she was. While reading this book, I often found myself returning to Mark Burford’s award-winning “Mahalia Jackson and the Black Gospel Field” (2018), which offers a deeper account of Jackson’s glory-bound trajectory, as well as Jackson’s 1966 unfortunately neglected autobiography, “Movin’ On Up.” Curiously, though both Tyson and Williams are credited as coauthors, their book ends with an afterword solely attributed to the latter. These brief pages show what could have been — a more personal reflection on why Jackson matters today. “Mahalia remains a vessel and conduit of Divine power,” Williams writes. “She is the love that transformed her into God’s guiding light for the freedom movement that will never let us turn away.” Rien Fertel is the author of four books. He recently won his fifth Best Critical Review Award from the New Orleans Press Club.

THIS WEEK’S BESTSELLERS FROM PUBLISHERS WEEKLY HARDCOVER FICTION

1. “Daggermouth” by H.M. Wolfe 2. “The Calamity Club” by Kathryn Stockett 3. “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke 4. “Sea of Charms” by Sarah Beth Durst 5. “Whistler” by Ann Patchett 6. “Meet Me in Paris” by Kristin Harmel 7. “Getting Away with Murder” by Shari Lapena. Viking/Dorman 8. “The Country Road Murders” by Patterson/Lupica 9. “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, Vol. 8” by Hirohiko Araki 10. “Cool Machine” by Colson Whitehead

HARDCOVER NONFICTION

1. “How Lucky Am I” by Christian Watson 2. “Regime Change” by Haberman/ Swan 3. “Biological War” by Annie Jacobsen 4. “Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I’ve Cried About” by Isabel Klee 5. “Strangers” by Belle Burden 6. “This Is the Plan” by Ben Wikler 7. “Communion” by JD Vance 8. “The Land and Its People” by David Sedaris 9. “London Falling” by Patrick Radden Keefe 10. “Birth Vibes” by Jen Hamilton

TRADE PAPERBACK

1. “Theo of Golden” by Allen Levi 2. “Just for the Plot” by Meghan Quinn 3. “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman 4. “The Divorce” by Freida McFadden 5. “Murdoku” by Manuel Garand 6. “The Housemaid’s Wedding” by Freida McFadden 7. “Daybreak” by Autumn Woods 8. “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid 9. “Dolly All the Time” by Annabel Monaghan 10. “Game On” by Navessa Allen

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 7D

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ARTS & CULTURE

Bill Maudlin’s WWII cartoons on display in N.O. There are a couple of striking set-pieces in the traveling exhibit “Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin and the Art of War,” on view through April 18 at the National WWII Museum. One is the title wall, which features a photo of cartoonist Dave Mauldin in Walker June 1945. He had become the youngest-ever Pulitzer Prize winner for his wartime cartoons and received a Purple Heart for taking shrapnel from a German mortar. Ahead for him was a bestselling memoir, “Up Front,” that Hollywood would make into a movie of the same title. Also ahead was a run for Congress, then a long career as a political cartoonist for newspapers in St. Louis and Chicago. To the photo’s right, through a simulated artillery-made passageway, wait life-size cartoon renditions of the iconic Willie and Bill characters Mauldin created to convey the “exhaustion, cynicism and humanity of the ordinary soldier,” the wall text says. “His disheveled, muddy infantrymen Willie and Joe became the voice of the American GI during World War II, speaking blunt truths about combat, leadership, fear and survival.” The second piece comes a little later in the exhibit and is a further study in mud and its meaning during the ﬁghting in Italy, where Mauldin spent most of his war. Framed by wall-sized photos of soldiers wrestling with stuck Jeeps, an anguished cartoon cavalry sergeant holds a revolver to the hood of a real WWII-era Jeep, just above a broken axle that had disabled the vehicle. The Mauldin cartoon that inspired the tableau sits just to the left, taken from a Stars and Stripes compilation of his work from the Mediterranean Theater. There is no caption, just an editor’s note explaining that it was one of the cartoonist’s personal favorites. Earlier in life, Mauldin knew a time when cavalry troops rode actual horses and not Jeeps. Both displays combine real photos and artifacts with ink-on-paper illustrations. In the ﬁrst, Mauldin’s right foot emerges from the photo as if he’d drawn it onto the wall. In the Jeep tableau, rocks from the simulated wall, presumably dislodged by the nowbroken axle, tumble into

Bill Mauldin’s cartoons addressed the everyday frustrations of life on the front line.

ON THE CALENDAR n In celebration of New Orleans Museum Month, Gallier House will host an after-hours event from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.Wednesday featuring guided tours and libations. Members of other museums will receive a $5 discount on the admission fee. hgghh.org. n At 6 p.m. Aug. 26, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience will host a PHOTOS By DAVE WALKER screening of the documentary ”Grit & Grace: How Jewish ‘Drawn to Combat: Bill Mauldin and the Art of War’ is now on display at the National WWII Women Built a Better Texas,” Museum. followed by a talk by filmmaker Barbara Rosenthal. msje.org. n The Hermann-Grima House will host its Museum Month after-hours event from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.Aug. 26. hgghh.org. n The Historic BK House & Gardens will host another installment of its regular storytelling event “Quarter Kaleidoscope” at 6 p.m. August 26.The theme: “Summertime in New Orleans.” bkhouse.org.

Bill Mauldin’s World War II cartoons focused on front-line troops. the foreground in black and white.

Stepping into his work The exhibit originated at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The challenge for the team at the WWII Museum was to ﬁnd ways to expand the exhibit’s presentation from mostly two-dimensional cartoons and a few objects (including Mauldin’s Purple Heart) to ﬁll the expansive Alario Special Exhibition Hall. Using macro-artifacts like the doomed Jeep also added emphasis on Mauldin’s wartime work, which would be more of a focus

for museum visitors than the sequences on his early life and later newspaper successes (for which he won a second Pulitzer). “There’s a much larger portion of the material related to works both before and after the war,” said WWII Museum Curator Chase Tomlin. “So, we did have to conceive of a way to kind of draw attention to his WWII years given our mission and the scope of our work. “Some of what we try to do as well is give the visitor some environmental treatment to have them step into Mauldin’s work and engage with it in new and unex-

pected ways.”

Early and late Mauldin The prewar sequences of the exhibit display his early artwork, starting with his New Mexico childhood during the Depression (he once said he could draw before he could talk) and continuing on to cartooning for his high school newspaper in Phoenix. Two days before President Franklin Roosevelt federalized the 45th Infantry Division in anticipation of eventual American involvement in the war already underway on the other side of the world, Mauldin joined the Arizona

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National Guard. His study of the idiosyncrasies of Army life began in cartoons for his unit’s newspaper, the 45th Division News.

The postwar sequences of the exhibit track Mauldin’s career as a political cartoonist. Perhaps the bestknown work from those days was composed after returning from lunch on Nov. 22, 1963. It depicts the statue inside the Lincoln Memorial holding his head in his hands in grief at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The exhibit concludes with letters of admiration from U.S. presidents and senators, and ﬁnally similar notes from service members from World War II and beyond. Wrote one of the veterans: “I don’t have much to say, other than wishing you well and thanking you for saying in your drawing what we all felt.” A recording of a July 16 panel presentation that opened “Drawn to Combat” is archived at nationalww2museum.org. A Museumgoer Podcast episode, recorded in the gallery with curator Tomlin, historian Todd DePastino, and Bill Mauldin’s son, Nat, can be found at themuseumgoer. com. Dave Walker focuses on behind-the-scenes coverage of the region’s many museums here and at www.themuseumgoer. com. Email Dave at dave@ themuseumgoer.com.

8D ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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TRAVEL

Expert advice, hacks for rising travel costs Consumers looking to save money

BY MIA TAYLOR TravelPulse (TNS)

Whether it’s gas, groceries, energy bills, or yes, travel costs, it’s hard to avoid the sticker shock of rising prices these days. When it comes to travel expenses, in particular, the July Travel Inﬂation Report from NerdWallet reveals that average U.S. travel costs are 10% higher compared to this time in 2025. The report, which combines data from individual travel categories tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (such as airfares, lodging, meals and rental cars), also indicates that airfare is far steeper in 2026 than it was last year, up a staggering 26.5%. The price tag for eating out and entertainment is also up, but more modestly at 3.4% and 3.6%, respectively. Lodging prices, meanwhile, have increased about 4.8%. Despite these price hikes, Americans are not interested in giving up on travel. And who can blame them?A survey of more than 3,000 people conducted by travel insurance marketplace Squaremouth found that more than half of respondents (54%) plan to cut spending on other areas of their lives to prioritize travel in 2026. Which areas are getting

the axe exactly? About 19% of survey respondents said they’ll reduce retail shopping and 12% said they’ll cut back on dining out in order to make more money available for travel. If you’re reluctant to put a pause on travel as well, but would like to find ways to rein in the especially steep costs of a vacation, read on. We asked travel industry insiders to share their top tips for scaling back travel expenses amid inflation. Here’s what they had to say. Shift your flight budget toward more budget-friendly and dollar-strong countries Booking flights is likely the decision with the largest marginal impact on your travel budget, says Evelyn Duran, of the tour company Ecuador & Galapagos Insiders. Consumers can help reduce this cost by looking for less expensive flight destinations.

“Round-trip flights to Ecuador from Miami or Houston are currently some of the least expensive international flights, costing $400 to $600, while flights to Europe range from $900 to $1,400,” explains Duran. Many of the countries that are less expensive to fly to also offer an especially favorable exchange rate for the U.S. dollar (meaning your dollars will go further)

All-inclusive tour packages You can protect yourself against continually rising travel costs by booking an all-inclusive tour package for your next vacation. In most cases, when you travel via a package tour (offered by companies like Intrepid, Trafalgar, G Adventures, Contiki, Ecuador & Galapagos Insiders, and the like), everything from restaurants to activities and accommodations is included for one

compromising the overall experience,” says Julie Crotts, a travel adviser with Fora. “I typically suggest dates outside of peak periods, when travelers can often find more competitive rates on accommodations, flights and activities while enjoying fewer crowds.” Crotts adds. This hack also works for theme park vacations, says Bethany Bixler, travel advisor with Wish and Wayfinder Travel, who specializes in Disney vacations. “Shifting a Disney or Universal trip by even two or three weeks, before or after spring break or the first weeks of summer, can cut DREAMSTIME airfare and even hotel rates by a quite a bit,” says Bixler. “Families with any flexibility with school calendars are set price. “When you book an all-in- saving the most by moving clusive trip ... you can lock in off already popular travel current prices for your en- dates.” tire family,” explains Duran. Moreover, by doing a little Cruises and more research online, it may even Another way to help combe possible to find tour op- bat rising travel costs is by erators offering sales or booking a cruise vacation or special promotions on all- an all-inclusive resort, adinclusive packages. vises Bixler. Here too, package deals can help cap your Shoulder and off-season spending and make budgetThis tried-and-true hack ing for your trip more prehas been around for quite dictable. some time and is often relied “With airfare up and disupon by frequent globetrot- count options limited this ters. Instead of visiting a year, a cruise or an all-indestination during its peak clusive resort locks in food, season, such as summer in resort and entertainment beEurope, try visiting during a fore it climbs any further,” time that’s less popular with Bixler explains. “I’m steertravelers. Think: October or ing more budget-conscious November in the case of Eu- families toward these berope, for instance. cause there’s no surprise bill “Traveling during the off- or resort fee after you have season or shoulder season is paid.” one of my top recommendations for travelers looking to Book your vacation early stretch their budget without This tip may not be for

everyone (procrastinators, we’re looking at you), but if you’re comfortable locking in a vacation for 2027 now, it may save you a great deal of money, says Bixler. “Cruise lines and resorts release their lowest pricing and best perks, such as free drink packages, onboard credit, and kids-sail-free promos, at the opening of booking windows,” Bixler explains. Waiting even a few months usually means paying more for the same cabin or room category on a cruise or at a resort. And not to worry, if a lower-cost promotion comes out at a later date, you may still be able to get that promotional deal applied retroactively to the cost you paid earlier.

Use local travel experts During an inflationary travel environment, it can be helpful to work with local travel experts to craft your travel experience. “Local travel experts have the best pricing because they have relationships with the lodges, guides, transportation providers, and activity providers, and they have the most pricing options available,” explains Vummy Kihaule, a travel expert with Tanzania Safaris. When a local travel expert does the travel planning, you can also avoid the retail cost of booking transfers, activities, and accommodations, adds Kihaule. “Local travel experts even provide authentic activities that travelers miss when they travel plan on their own,” says Kihaule.

TRAVEL TROUBLESHOOTER By Christopher Elliott

After flight was canceled, $844 refund sent to wrong bank I booked flights with Viva Aerobus from Tijuana to Hermosillo, Mexico.The airline canceled the flights, and I requested a refund.Viva Aerobus would not refund to my American Express card. Instead, it said it had to wire the money to my U.S. bank account. Christopher I sent the airline the details for an internaElliott tional transfer. My bank is Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union. I found a SWIFT code for the bank online and included it in the forms. It turns out my bank does not use a SWIFT code or an intermediary bank.To make matters worse,Viva Aerobus performed the transfer but used a different SWIFT code than the one I provided. It sent the money to Navy Federal Credit Union. I

am not a member there, so that bank will not help me. I have sent several emails to customer service and the CEO, but nobody will reply. I also filed a formal complaint with PROFECO, Mexico’s consumer protection agency. Can you help me get my $844 refund? — Carol Bartell, Carlsbad, Calif. When an airline cancels a ﬂight, it’s required under federal rules to refund you if you decide not to travel. But what we have here is a comedy (or maybe a tragedy) of banking errors, and it is difﬁcult to know who gets the blame. Let’s start with the refund itself. Viva Aerobus should have simply reversed the charge on your American Express card. It is unclear why the airline insisted on a wire transfer, but that require-

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rejected and returned to the sender. This process can take time, and money often sits in limbo while banks reconcile the error. You did the right thing by escalating your complaint. You contacted the airline’s executives (I list the names and numbers for Viva Aerobus executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott. org). You also ﬁled a complaint with PROFECO, Mexico’s consumer protection agency. For Mexican airlines, PROFECO is often the most effective route to a resolution because it has regulatory authority over carriers like Viva Aerobus. Since the airline stopped responding to you, it may have been ignoring you. When a consumer

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonproﬁt organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him on his site.

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ment set the stage for the confusion that followed. You admitted in your correspondence that you searched for your bank’s SWIFT code online. That is dangerous. You should always contact your bank to verify wire instructions. As you found out, your credit union does not use the SWIFT system. However, Viva Aerobus made a significant error as well. You provided a specific code, but the airline’s records show it sent the money to a different one. As you correctly point out, it directed your refund to Navy Federal Credit Union instead of Northrop Grumman. When a wire transfer hits a bank where the beneficiary has no account, the funds are typically

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Taking time to find perspective Dear Annie: My husband riage is OK, maybe I need to and I are in our early 60s, let it go. married for 40-plus I cannot let it go! years. We plan to reHe says he loves me and wants to spend tire and travel soon. the rest of his life But the past year or with me, but how so he seemed to becan I believe him? come obsessed with I cannot get past his smartphone, holdAnnie this. I have lost so ing his phone all the Lane much sleep over this time and guarding it. DEAR ANNIE ordeal and am sad I asked him if he had every day about this. a Facebook account What do you sugand he said no. But when I entered his cell num- gest? — Betrayed Wife Dear Betrayed Wife: You ber in the Facebook login and a common password we were wise to listen to your use, it came up with “invalid intuition around a year ago when it spoke to you about password.” (It would have your husband behaving difsaid “no account found” if he didn’t have one.) ferently. Now it might be I told him I wanted to talk hard to hear that little knowand asked him to be honest ing voice within. Your (unif he had a Facebook acderstandable) anxiety and distrust are drowning it out. count. He yelled no and ran So, counterintuitive as it out of the room. Then, while sounds, I think you’ll get a he was at the store one day, clearer perspective on your I opened our iPad to read the news and the screen had marriage if you take some time to focus on yourself. a notification of a message Go on vacation with friends or call from a woman. Her name had pink heart emojis or alone, just to get away for around it. I have no idea who a few days. Keep a journal. Begin a meditation practice. she is, as we don’t have any Enroll in some fitness classfriends or family with that name. es. Take up a new hobby. We’ve had a few counselThe goal is to hush that mading sessions in which I told dening din of frustration, him that I saw the notificaanger and fear so that you might once again hear your tion from the woman. He intuition loud and clear. insists he doesn’t know Then let it guide you. her. I told him I’d meet Note that none of this is him halfway, but he needs meant to take the place of to be truthful or we can’t marriage counseling. Your get this resolved. He still counselor also offers crucial won’t budge. The counselor perspective and guidance, doesn’t believe his story either and told him so. After and I encourage you to keep three sessions, she said he’s going. definitely nervous and hiding something, but that if Send questions to dearannie@creators.com. everything else in the mar-

TODAY IN HISTORY By The Associated Press Today is Sunday, Aug. 16, the 228th day of 2026. There are 137 days left in the year. Today in history: On Aug. 16, 1977, Elvis Presley died at his Graceland estate in Memphis, Tennessee, at the age of 42; 41 years later, in 2018, singer Aretha Franklin, known as the “Queen of Soul,” died in Detroit at the age of 76. Also on this date: In 1777, American forces won the Battle of Bennington in what was considered a turning point of the Revolutionary War. In 1812, Detroit fell to British and Native American forces in the War of 1812. In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued Proclamation 86, which prohibited the states of the Union from engaging in commercial trade with states that were in rebellion — i.e., the Confederacy. In 1896, gold was discovered in Canada’s Yukon Territory, sparking the “Klondike Fever” that would draw tens of thousands to the region in search of fortune. In 1948, baseball legend Babe Ruth died in New York at age 53. In 1954, the ﬁrst issue of “Sports Illustrated” was released. In 1962, the Beatles ﬁred their original drummer, Pete Best, replacing him with Ringo Starr. In 1978, James Earl Ray, convicted assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., told a Capitol Hill hearing he did not commit the crime, saying he’d been set up by a mysterious man called

“Raoul.” In 1987, people worldwide began a two-day celebration of the “Harmonic Convergence,” which heralded what believers called the start of a new, purer age of humankind. In 2014, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, where police and protesters repeatedly clashed in the week after a Black 18-year-old, Michael Brown, was shot to death by a White police officer. In 2020, lightning sparked the August Complex wildfire in California. More than 1,600 square miles — greater than the size of Rhode Island — would burn over the following three months. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Julie Newmar is 93. Film director Bruce Beresford is 86. Actor Bob Balaban is 81. Ballerina Suzanne Farrell is 81. Actor Lesley Ann Warren is 80. Actor Reginald VelJohnson is 74. Singer/author/TV personality Kathie Lee Gifford is 73. Singer J.T. Taylor (Kool and the Gang) is 73. Movie director James Cameron is 72. Singer/actor Madonna is 68. Actor Angela Bassett is 68. Actor Timothy Hutton is 66. Actor Steve Carell is 64. Country musician Emily Strayer (The Chicks) is 54. Actor/ filmmaker Taika Waititi is 51. Singer Vanessa Carlton is 46. Country singer Dan Smyers (Dan & Shay) is 39. Actor Rumer Willis is 38. U.S. Olympic gold medal swimmer Caeleb Dressel is 30. Actor Piper Curda is 29. Tennis player Jannik Sinner is 25. Actor Seth Carr is 19.

Guests never compliment her cooking Dear Miss Manners: For years, I have sumption was that anyone who could entertained and loved every moment afford to entertain dinner guests of it. But lately, when having people could also afford an underpaid cook. over, they just spend time talking Any signs of enthusiasm about restaurants they have been for the meal created suspito and what a wonderful expericions of cook-napping. So when cooks demanded ence it was. real wages, prompting I am a good cook, schoolmany hosts to take an intertrained, and take pride in what I serve. I am fed up with nobody est in cooking their own Judith making comments about what I food, the rule had to be canMartin celed to allow the guests to have prepared and instead raving MISS about a restaurant. offer compliments. MANNERS My husband says I am too critiUnfortunately, that also unleashed endless talk, not cal and should lighten up. I say, only about restaurants, but also about I am fed up. One of these days, I am diets, nutrition, gastric symptoms, going to serve arsenic, and that will preferences, prohibitions and other serve them right! unappetizing subjects. It is not just Gentle reader: Well, that would shut your friends, so it might be difficult to them up, and get people — even find more interesting guests. strangers, no doubt — talking about To keep you from poisoning the your meals. ones you have, Miss Manners will alYet Miss Manners sympathizes with you, mainly on the grounds of low you to do some shameless fishing, how deadly dull those conversations prompting them to be more gracious. must be. She remembers when any After listening to yet another paean discussion of food at the dinner table to a restaurant, you might say, “Oh, was considered impolite. dear, that all sounds so good. I can That rule would not have helped never compete with those wonderful you, because it also banned talk about chefs they have.” the food that was being eaten. The asDear Miss Manners: Referring to

“guys” has become a constant refrain during newscasts: “Now over to you guys” for every opening, and “Back to you guys” for every conclusion. No matter how formal and expensive a restaurant is, the server will greet customers with “How are you guys?” They will then come around during the meal to inquire “How are you guys doing?” and end with, “You guys have a nice night” — regardless of the gender of the diners. Is anyone else bothered by this? It is getting worse every day. Once you start noticing it, it can drive you crazy. Gentle reader: Indeed. And the widespread use of “guys” to address women is particularly mystifying after the fraught learning process of changing job titles from masculine to neutral — “fireman” to “firefighter,” “stewardess” to “flight attendant,” and such. Miss Manners is just grateful she is not the language police. Email Miss Manners at dearmissmanners@gmail.com.

See a doctor for advice on best diet plan Dear Heloise: I’m trying to lose some weight before my son’s wedding in December. There’s so much controversy about what to stop eating and which diet plan is best. At 61, with bad knees, I am not going to the gym, not running in a maraand wouldn’t last Hints from thon, on a diet that would Heloise starve a gerbil. Any hints for a chubby woman in her 60s? — Patty W., in River Falls,Wisconsin Patty, please make it your ﬁrst priority to see a doctor and get a clean bill of health, as well as suggestions for a diet that you can stick to without spending a small fortune. Most diets that use common sense and healthy eating, along with some form of mild exercise, will usually work. Stay away from TV ads that promise miracles for weight loss. I wish there was a magic pill for weight loss, but from the letters we get, there are too many scammers who promise results and only deliver empty promises. — Heloise

Here comes the bride Dear Heloise: I’m getting married in November with the white dress, veil,

ﬂowers, and all the rest that goes into a church wedding. I normally don’t wear makeup, and I’d rather not wear it on my wedding day. But my mother’s insisting that I need a full face of makeup and big hair, both of which I don’t care for at all. Why’s it so important ton your wedding day? — Chloe H., in Lima, Ohio Chloe, I think your mother’s correct on this one. A little makeup — especially some lipstick, a light blush, and mascara — will bring out your features in photographs. If you want to skip foundation and all the other things, this is ﬁne. But I believe you’ll be surprised at how nice you’ll look with just a hint of makeup to enhance your natural beauty. As for “poofy” hair, well, just explain that you aren’t comfortable with this look. — Heloise

Ladder safety rules

label somewhere on the ladder. Read it! n Use both hands to climb. Carry tools inside a tool belt. n Paint every other step a bright color to use as a visual when climbing. n Do not overextend your reach while on a ladder. It’s safer to just move the ladder. n If you’re working with or near electricity, use a wooden or ﬁberglass ladder. Do not use a metal ladder. n Inspect the ladder rungs to make certain that none are broken or cracked. — Jean D., in New Jersey

Washing food Dear Heloise: I’ve been hearing a lot about how to properly clean fruit before eating it. Just running it under the tap isn’t enough apparently. My doctor said that he runs his fruit under tap water but also scrubs each piece with baking soda to rub off the coatings that are sprayed on fruit and vegetables. Does this really work? — Ellen Y., in Indiana Ellen, yes, baking soda removes about 99% of pesticides and residue; however, it isn’t a disinfectant and doesn’t kill bacteria. — Heloise

Dear Heloise: Last week, my husband fell off a ladder when one of the rungs broke in half. He broke his wrist, but it could’ve been much worse. The clinic that we went to gave my husband a list of ladder safety tips, and I thought that I’d pass these tips onto your readers: n All ladders have a weight and height limit. It’s usually printed on a Send a hint to heloise@heloise.com.

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10D ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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Pianist River Eckert at his home studio in New Orleans on Aug. 3

RIVER ECKERT

STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER

And Harry Connick Jr. Four days after he reached Continued from page 1D out via Instagram, Connick visited the Eckerts’ home studio on Halloween afternoon in 2023. He and River sat at a piano, the New Orleans music scene talking shop. seemingly out of nowhere. “He showed me some of what His self-titled debut was one Booker showed him as a kid,” of the best-selling albums durRiver recalled. “He kept saying, ing the 2026 New Orleans Jazz ‘Me and you, we’re not very dif& Heritage Festival. He earned a standing ovation in the Blues ferent.’ ” Tent. For River, Connick’s 1994 New His high-profile hometown Orleans funk album “She” is an appearances span Mayor Helimportant touchstone. He considers Connick “a beast. I look ena Moreno’s inauguration to up to him just as much as James WWOZ’s Piano Night to White Booker, Dr. John and Professor Linen Night. PHOTO By SAM FRIEDMAN / PROVIDED By JAKE ECKERT Longhair.” This summer, he traveled River Eckert performs at the 2025 NOLA Funk Fest at Spanish Plaza That pivotal afternoon with to California for the first time Connick “was the first time I to perform at the High Sierra in New Orleans. ever really sat down with a perMusic Festival and accept its Emerging Artist Award. He also During the COVID shutdown, to a more advanced class.” son to talk about New Orleans made his first trip abroad for a Cleary livestreamed “One FinWatching River in a piano lab, piano. He had a lot of inspiratwo-week tour of France. ger At a Time” piano lessons Pellera recalled, “it was clear tional advice.” The novelty of his age partly on Facebook. Jake suggested that he had a solid technique explains River’s rise. But he’s River, a bored 10-year-old stuck and a real love of the classic Standing on his own also a legitimately gifted piano New Orleans style of piano, esat home, check them out. Released this spring, the player with a natural feel for River absorbed Cleary’s les- pecially Professor Longhair and “River Eckert” album is, in its the nuances of the New Orleans namesake’s words, “my roots son about Huey “Piano” Smith’s James Booker.” style. Pellera, who also taught Troy meets me.” New Orleans rhythm and blues “He’s something special,” said His pleasant singing voice classic “Rockin’ Pneumonia and “Trombone Shorty” Andrews Ivan Neville, the Dumpstaphand Jon Batiste, continued to suits the tone and temperathe Boogie Woogie Flu.” work with River during holi- ment of the songs he co-wrote It rocked his world. unk keyboardist and scion of “That’s how I got deep into day breaks. They’d analyze with his father. He also revisits a New Orleans music dynasty. New Orleans piano,” River said. pop songs such as “Let It Be” the traditional “Stack-A-Lee,” “Out of the gate, he’s playing “From Cleary’s lessons. piano like nobody’s business, and “House of the Rising Sun;” which Dr. John recorded for “That put me down the rabbit River would transpose them his “Gumbo” album, and “Tico sounding like Professor Longhole of New Orleans R&B, which to alternate keys or new chord Tico,” a Brazilian-flavored solo hair and Dr. John and all those progressed into the funk of The progressions. piano showcase that both Bookguys, just killin’ it. Meters and the Neville BrothAfter finishing eighth grade er and Connick covered. “And his work ethic is impresNineteen veteran local musisive. That will take him a long ers. Now I’m stuck in that rabbit at Willow, he entered NOCCA as a full-time Jazz Department cians contributed to the album. way.” hole. I’m happy to be there.” Neville lobbied to be on the Pianist and composer Mi- student who could compose, ar- River was only 14 when the “River Eckert” album. He apchael Pellera taught at Loyola range and record his own songs. project started. He and his fa“From a young age, I would ther are both credited as proUniversity and NOCCA for a pears on a song called, fittingly, combined 36 years. He first en- look at my dad and try to pic- ducers; Jake served as River’s “Pass That Torch.” “This kid has got some swag countered 13-year-old River at ture where I would be when I guide throughout the process. to say that, and he’s actively do“I would have felt almost irrethe New Orleans Jazz and Heri- grew up,” he said. “I could only ing it,” Neville said “He’s grabtage Foundation’s Don “Moose” picture myself doing music. As sponsible not giving him some Jamison Heritage School of Mu- I got older, I got more into mu- guidance,” Jake said. bing that torch. And he’s just For River’s second album, the getting started.” sic, an intensive program for sic and found more love for it. music will flow mainly from And here we are today.” gifted young musicians. Backstage in the womb Cleary gave him ‘Flu’ him. “I was astonished that such a He compiled a couple hunA bunker-like recording stuOne teacher who did help — young person had such a com- Consulting with Connick dio dominates the Eckert fam- unknowingly — was Jon Cleary, manding knowledge of scales His earliest gigs involved sit- dred song snippets and another ily’s Carrollton backyard. It’s the British-born, Bywater- and chords,” Pellera said. “Af- ting in with his father at Seither’s 300 or so lyrical ideas on his where River made his first based pianist and singer who is ter a few weeks of saying, ‘Can Seafood in Harahan. Eventually, phone. This summer, he fleshed out songs in his bedroom on a album and where he recently a proficient practitioner of the anyone other than River answer River took over the gig. started recording his second New Orleans style. Meters bassist George Porter keyboard and two laptops. the question,’ I had him moved He wrote with The RevivalJr. sometimes showed up at Seither’s and dropped a $100 bill ists singer David Shaw and Anin the tip jar. “He’d make sure driu Yanovski, the keyboardist I got it, not my dad,” River said, in The Rumble. grinning. One person River didn’t write Porter became one of River’s with was his dad. Jake didn’t main mentors. Cyril Neville, even hear the songs-in-progress an alum of both the Meters and until River downloaded them the Neville Brothers, is another to the backyard studio’s hard one. drive a few days before they Jake and River bonded as a started recording. father/son duo with Cyril and “I intentionally didn’t get inCyril’s son, Omari, a drummer volved,” Jake said. “I wanted and bandleader. Omari and to let him walk on his own feet, River are bandmates in the because I know he can.” New Orleans Legacy Coalition, River’s first album “was the a group of second-generation community stepping forward,” musicians. Jake said. “This one is River River was in third grade when putting out there what he’s he met Trombone Shorty at the hearing and living. He’s startHouse of Blues. Seven years lat- ing to experience things.” During such new experiences er, he joined Shorty on the bill at as his summer tour of France, Moreno’s inauguration. “Those were both things I River was grateful that Jake would not expect to happen was there as his guitarist and at this age,” River said. “I’ve more. “Me and my dad have lots looked up to Troy since I was very young, so that was a dream of fun playing together. We’re more than father/son. We’re come true.” Seeking insight, he had deep more than musicians. It’s someSTAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER conversations with acclaimed thing higher than that.” Pianist River Eckert, left, and his dad, Jake, work on one of River’s songs in the control room at their pianists Josh Paxton and Tom ä See RIVER ECKERT, page 11D McDermott. home studio in New Orleans. album a week before his junior year at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts commenced. River’s father, Jake Eckert, is a guitarist and producer who spent years in the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and co-founded the New Orleans Suspects. His mother, Jen Eckert, is a fourthgrade teacher. River, their only child, grew up immersed in New Orleans music. “I was backstage at Dirty Dozen concerts since I was in the womb,” he said. “I was always aware of New Orleans music and what my dad does.” Not that he fully appreciated it. When River was 3 or 4, his father tried to introduce him to the legend Allen Toussaint. River yelled “No!” and ran away. Sitting on the stage steps watching the Dirty Dozen at Tipitina’s one night, he refused to move as Dr. John came up the stairs. He was, in his own words, a “stubborn” little kid. By 3, he was plunking away at an upright piano. Jake showed him how to play the melody of Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” with one finger. The Ukrainian woman who gave River classical piano lessons at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School was “very strict” about technique. He remembers being “real scared” of her. Classical music bored him. While practicing Bach, he’d shift into a 12-bar blues: “I’d see my dad onstage playing funk music and be like, ‘I want to get into that.’ ” In hindsight, River realized his classical foundation “was a very important part in me being able to learn the New Orleans stuff on my own, not needing a lot of help from teachers.”

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 11D

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FLYSWATTER

Crumbine was at emonial fly whisks a Topeka softball made from ox tails game when he heard or horsehair. One, the crowd chanting, made of ostrich “Swat the ball.” feathers, was even He began urging found in TutankhaKansans to “swat the men’s tomb. fly,” and, in the spirit In 1900, Robert R. of the game, a schoolMontgomery patented a contraption teacher named Frank called a “fly-killer.” H. Rose created a “fly Fortunately, the bat” by attaching a name got better. piece of screen to a STAFF PHOTO A few decades yardstick. By JAN RISHER later, according to Crumbine eventuA new flyswatter a 1948 account in ally named the deThe New Yorker, vice the “flyswatter.” Kansas health official Dr. Samuel For decades, flyswatters were

Continued from page 1D “Steroid-Withdrawal at 3 Days After Renal Transplantation with Anti-IL-2 Receptor (alpha) Therapy: A Prospective, Randomized, Multicenter Study.” I have a feeling she and I could be friends. I do love a person willing to be dedicated to varied interests. Apparently, humans have been annoyed by ﬂies for a very long time. Three thousand years ago, Egyptians may have used cer-

standard household equipment. Then came air conditioning, better window screens and bug zappers, which killed insects without requiring anyone to get up from the couch. Bug zappers had their own problem, of course: They killed indiscriminately, good bugs along with the pests. But I’m still not sure what happened to the ﬂyswatter. At some point, my family simply stopped having one. There was no great decision. No moment when we announced that we were a ﬂyswatter-free household. This summer, I decided the time had come to bring back the old

GEOGRAPHIES

land belonging to A. Miles Pratt …” Data collected by the Work ProjContinued from page 1D ects Administration in 1939 show most lots by the bayou remained empty; those 14 blocks closest to Gentilly Road were 70-100% White; Pailetville, Pailletville or Pilotland. Pailet Land arose amid the chang- and those 22 blocks in the the heart of Pailet Land were 100% Black in ing geography of early-1900s New the section closer to St. Bernard Orleans. The recently installed drainage system had dewatered the Avenue, and racially integrated closer to Paris Avenue. There were backswamp, creating new living no racial deed covenants then. space for the city’s growing popuBy 1940, the Housing Authority lation of 340,000 residents. Racial of New Orleans had expropriated deed covenants, however, restricted most new subdivisions in places part of Pailet Land to become like Gentilly and Lakeview to White the St. Bernard Avenue Housing families, despite that over a quarter Projects. Unlike Elias Pailet’s deof the population comprised Black velopment, these federally subsifamilies, many of whom were eager dized apartments were designated for new housing. Black-only, just as the St. Thomas Elias Pailet saw an opportunity and Iberville projects were desigin this mismatch of supply and nated White-only. demand. The son of Russian imAround that time, Pailet Land earned a place in the city’s literary migrants who ran a business on canon when writers Lyle Saxon, Dryades Street, Pailet steered his Edward Dreyer and Robert Tallant savings into real estate, specializrecorded its local folkways in their ing in “buying outlying tracts and erecting small homes for workers, widely read book “Gumbo Ya-Ya.” Despite being corrected by lowhite and black,” according to a later Times-Picayune article. cals, the authors wrote of Pailet Around 1910, Pailet found a size- Lane rather than Pailet Land, unable tract just lakeside of Gentilly derstanding that the “prepossessRoad (now Boulevard), a topoing thoroughfare” of Paris Avenue formed the eponymous lane. “The graphic ridge recently developed houses here are small,” they wrote, into the fashionable Whites-only “and many of them are quite neat, subdivision of Gentilly Terrace. some are even new,” though “the Pailet’s adjacent tract had two drawbacks: it lay across the South- weeds are as high as your heady and the sidewalk is only occasionern Railroad tracks, and it once hosted a natural tributary of Bayou ally paved.” St. John, now reconfigured into the Off Paris Avenue, conditions Florida Avenue Drainage Canal. were downright rustic, with “unThese two nuisances had the efpainted shacks” among gardens fect of reducing land costs, but they and cow pastures, “constructed of scrap wood, pieces of tin, [and] disalso meant the houses would be more affordable. In 1912, Pailet had carded advertising signboards.” a surveyor lay streets and blocks In terms of businesses, Pailet with parcels nearly twice as large Land had a couple of Italian-owned as those in the inner city. Next, con- groceries, pool rooms and barrooms, a beauty parlor and the Brignac tractors erected cottages and shotCanning Company at 1510 Pleasure gun houses on either side of Paris St., which regularly advertised for Avenue from Pleasure Street even“color women” to clean shrimp and tually up to Caton Street, and westcrabs. Pailet Land was also home to ward toward St. Bernard Avenue. St. Raymond Catholic Church, the Lacking a formal name, the Fairview and Asia Baptist churches neighborhood came to be known and the Nelson School. as Pailet Land, reflecting the local Given their interest in folk tales, practice of naming subdivisions afSaxon and his co-authors tended to ter their owners or developers. exoticize Pailet Land with stories of The sizeable parcels gave Black and other working-class urban fami- voodoo and stereotypes written in lies a new sort of residential experi- a “‘Gombo’ accent.” Nevertheless, ence, with houses set back from qui- a modern reader comes away with et streets and surrounded by lawns. a general sense of what Pailet Land was like nearly a century ago. But hardly was Pailet Land like the In this regard, Pailet Land is California-style suburbia of Gentilly Terrace, a mile and a half to the east. historically significant because it was the first sizeable, lasting Black Nor was Pailet Land much like the settlement lakeside of the Gentilly Pailet-owned parcels fronting 1900Ridge. Others followed when Dillard 2300 Gentilly Boulevard, where University opened nearby in 1931, pricier houses were constructed. after which Black faculty and staff In 1935, Times-Picayune columsettled in the adjacent Voscoville nist Maud O’Bryan explained that (Boscoville) and Sugar Hill subdi“Pailetville (or Land) is … on the back-of-town side [of] Gentilly visions. By 1940, three other tiny Road,” bounded by “the Southern Black enclaves had formed in Genrailroad, Bayou St. John and some tilly closer to Lake Pontchartrain.

PHOTO By ERIKA GOLDRING / PROVIDED By JAKE ECKERT

River Eckert, left, smileswith Harry Connick Jr. at the start of the 2026 Orpheus parade in New Orleans.

RIVER ECKERT Continued from page 10D

School vs. schedule

For all his youthful energy, River has not accepted every offer. He declined an invitation to be an “American Idol” contestant. The televised singing competition “may be, for many young people, their big chance,” Jake said. “That’s not the world we live in. This is a steep, long, emotional climb if you want to stay in the game.” For River, the decision came down to, “Do I want to be known as ‘River Eckert’ or ‘River Eckert from American Idol’”? He recently signed with Mint Talent Group, the booking agency that represents several prominent New Orleans acts. He’ll occasionally miss school for out-of-town gigs. In January, he’ll spend a week aboard the Big Easy Cruise alongside Samantha Fish, Galactic, Jon Cleary and John Boutte. His parents are trying to balance his schooling and tour schedule in such a way that keeps his options open. “You don’t want to deprive anybody of any opportunities academically, career-wise, financially,” Jake said. “We’re looking at the road signs to point us in the most positive direction. “Music is a long road — you don’t ﬁgure it out in two years, or three or four or five or 50 years. But you can see the signs of somebody that has natural abilities from a very young age. What they do with them, that’s up to them.” Jake knows the hazards of the music business as well as anybody.

TONI VAN ZANDT

504-913-8665

toni@reverealtors.com

PROVIDED PHOTO By JAKE ECKERT

River Eckert, center, with Troy ‘Trombone Shorty’ Andrews, left, and a costumed Jon Batiste outside the Blues Tent during the 2026 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but I’ll tell you what not to do. I have a Ph.D. in what not to do. River has watched all that. He was there. That’s the most organic way of learning.” What River knows for certain is that the stage is his happy place. While traveling in France, he thought about how he’d never been so far from home. “Looking forward to more of those trips is something that will keep me going.” At 16, he’s full of ideas. Maybe he’ll record a traditional rhythm & blues album, or a Duke Ellington-style album, or a Dumpstaphunk-inspired funk album, or a solo piano album. “I have all these creative avenues that I want to run down but I can only run down so many at once. “Over time, I’ll touch them all.” Email Keith Spera at kspera@ theadvocate.com.

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By contrast, none existed in Lakeview, on the other side of City Park. Being closer to the predominantly Black Creole 7th Ward, Pailet Land and subsequent outlying African American settlements had the effect of steering future generations of Black families eastward in their lakeward residential shift. That trajectory involved the opening of Pontchartrain Park in 1955 and gained momentum during and after the Civil Rights Movement. By century’s end, Gentilly ranked as one of the most racially integrated sections of the city, and Black settlement progressed further into New Orleans East. Pailet Land by this time came to be dominated by the elevated Interstate 610, built to utilize the railroad right-of-way. Traffic noise and vehicle speed changed the peaceful character of the neighborhood. When the City Planning Commission released its first map of “official” city neighborhoods in 1973, it identified this area not as Pailet Land but as St. Bernard, for the housing project. The vernacular toponym and its phonetic variations, including Pellet Land and Pilot Land, faded from citywide discourse — but not from local memory. A generation later, Hurricane Katrina’s floodwaters swamped the area. Among the many losses was St. Raymond’s Church, a Pailet Land institution since 1925. The congregation eventually merged with a neighboring parish to become today’s St. Raymond & St. Leo the Great Catholic Church, on 2916 Paris Ave. About 15 years ago, a local civic association revived their neighborhood’s historical name, spelled Pilotland, and with the help of the Gentilly Development Corporation and Dillard University, put the centuryold nickname back in circulation. Today, a “Welcome to Pilotland” sign greets those coming up St. Bernard Avenue from Sere Street, steps from historic Asia Baptist Church, a neighborhood institution since 1923. Pailet Land is also remembered in Dave “Fat Man” Williams’ “Way Back o’ Town Blues,” whose lyrics go: “Well they call these the blues The way back o’ town blues Way back in Boscoville, Paillet Lane Gert Town, Lovers Lane.”

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12D ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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YouTube sensation Ms. Rachel announces debut album Mr. Aron. She joins her “I am a music educator, I get excited about kids husband, Mr. Aron, so hearing a real clarinet on on ‘I’m So Happy’ ‘Icky Sticky Bubble Gum’

BY MARIA SHERMAN AP music writer

NEW YORK — Parents of toddlers everywhere, prepare yourselves. YouTube sensation and music teacher Ms. Rachel and her husband, Aron Accurso, will release their debut album, the 23-track “I’m So Happy,” on Sept. 25. “Music is such a wonderful way for people to bond, for parents to bond. I know from the minute my kids were born, we’re singing to them,” Ms. Rachel, whose real name is Rachel Grifﬁn Accurso, said. Ms. Rachel launched her mega-popular YouTube channel in 2019 with her husband, known online as

and kids getting excited about hearing more real instruments,” said Ms. Rachel. But that isn’t the only education they’ll get from the album. A song like “I Could Be Your Friend” gives kids a script for bolstering their social skills. “We’re always thinking about all kinds of kids, whether they have disabilities, whether they’re autistic,” she said. “We just want the world to feel like it’s helpful to all children and the musical worlds as well.” The songs aren’t limited by genre, either. Take the single “I Love a Rainbow” as an example: It’s a big bossa nova number. Their take on the classic “Old McDonald” leans bluegrass. “Music is at the heart of

PROVIDED PHOTO

Rachel Griffin Accurso (aka Ms. Rachel) and husband Aron Accurso are releasing an album together. our show,” added Aron Accurso. “And so, we’ve always wanted to release the music and have families experience the music away from the screen.” “I’m So Happy” was coproduced by Aron Accurso and Grammy winner Scott

Riesett and principally arranged by Mr. Aron as well. Aron Accurso reimagined a number of Ms. Rachel’s fan favorite songs and childhood classics with a team of 19 vocalists and 42 instrumentalists. “It’s songs that people

know from the show, but we decided to expand them and elevate them with new arrangements and reproducing them,” Aron Accurso explained. “It was a process of, you know, looking at them and saying, ‘OK, what else can we do to this to make it sparkle more? What can we add to it? What does it need to be on the album?’ ” He says they most hope that the album will inspire “living room dance parties, because that’s what we love with our children,” he said. “We love to put on an album and dance around.” Ms. Rachel has made headlines over the last few years for using her social media platforms to advocate for global humanitarian crises, with particular attention given to the plight of children in Gaza and those detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most recently, she shared

comments about the mysterious death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells in Mississippi, a case shadowed by the state’s fraught racial history and lingering distrust in law enforcement. “We know the investigation and everything that followed would have been different if Nolan Wells were white and his friends were black. Nolan and his family deserve justice,” she wrote on Instagram. Ms. Rachel says she knows her album may bring attention to her advocacy and vice versa. “I view myself as an advocate for children’s rights so anytime they’re being violated by anyone anywhere, I want to be speaking out,” she said. “I want families to be happy and safe and healthy, and I think that’s a wonderful thing. So, if it’s brought up with the album, that’s great.”

Experts weigh in after Pitt reveals end of sobriety BY THERESA BRAINE

New york Daily News (TNS)

NEW YORK — Experts are weighing in on Brad Pitt’s bombshell revelation that he’s hopped off the proverbial wagon after seven years of sobriety, noting that while some people who quit drinking alcohol can resume, success is not a given. “ W h e n he said he’s drinking moderately after seven Pitt years of abstinence, there’s a bunch of different things going on there,” clinical social worker and policy advocate Joe Schrank told The Hollywood Reporter. “Typically speaking, alcoholics are just a horrible source of information about themselves.” However, it has been

known to happen, Schrank said, noting that the World Health Organization has found cases in which “with moderate drinking, even after long periods of abstinence, there are lots of people who ﬁnd success of clinical signiﬁcance and life improvement.” Where Pitt would fall on that spectrum is anybody’s guess, he said. “I was sober for seven years. And then I got back off the wagon,” Pitt told Esquire in a recent interview. “In a more restrained manner.” Getting “overconfident” once or twice taught him that “big quantities” are a no-go but that “a few” glasses of wine are manageable. “I can’t have a lot,” he said. “I have to be professional about it.” The admission, an aside in a wide-ranging interview, raised eyebrows in the re-

covery community given the star’s very public embrace of sobriety after joining a 12-step program following his 2016 split from wife Angelina Jolie. He has opened up about “boozing too much” and its effect on visitation and custody with the six children the two share; reflected on alcoholism and mulled past mistakes with Sir Anthony Hopkins; expounded upon the feeling of safety he had in AA meetings, and candidly admitted it had provided a needed “reboot” after his breakup. Although he reportedly had good relationships with his kids back in 2022, four of his children with Jolie are dropping his surname. Alcoholics Anonymous, which Pitt attended for 18 months after Jolie ﬁled for divorce in 2016, sees sobriety as all-or-nothing with no exceptions, Schrank pointed out.

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1 “Medicare & You,” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2025. 2 “Aging changes in teeth and gums”, medlineplus.gov, 4/17/2022. 3 FairHealth, Inc. National average dental fees. Data current as of July 2025; subject to change.

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TALKING BUSINESS Architect duo are big

fans of mass timber building material 3E

MADE IN LOUISIANA Big Easy Blend makes a big jump with shift to kids’ drinks 9E

BUSINESS

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N O L A.C O M

S u n d ay, au g u S t 16, 2026

It’s a pretty

1En

compelling proposition

’

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Mechanical engineer Guillermo Ochoa, left, looks over Chris Thompson’s shoulder at Search Fund Accelerator’s New Orleans office. The firm offers a program in which it will pay a salary to ‘searchers’ interesting in looking for companies to buy and will front the money to make the deal.

New Orleans ﬁrm pays entrepreneurs as they search for companies worth buying BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

In 2021, former New Orleanian Rachel McGrath knew she wanted to be her own boss, but she didn’t want to start her own company. So she became a “searcher” instead. McGrath accepted an invite into a program run by the New Orleans-based ﬁrm Search Fund Accelerator, which paid her a salary and covered her expenses during a yearlong hunt for a business to buy. The ﬁrm coached her through the acquisition process and fronted the money to make the deal. The result? Since 2023, McGrath has

IDEAS &

INNOVATION

McGrath

been the CEO and part-owner of a specialty chemicals company in a small town in Pennsylvania, and she’s already grown the business by acquiring a Florida-based competitor. McGrath, who first moved to New Orleans in 2013 to work for Chevron, said the search fund financing model — where investors gamble on promising entrepreneurs’ ability to find and run profitable businesses — was a great fit for her. “Buying a company wasn’t on my radar until an oil and gas engineer like me came to one of my MBA classes and talked about doing it,” said McGrath, who has degrees from MIT and Harvard’s business school. “People don’t want to sell to some private equity guy

in a sweater vest, and it’s a lot easier to convince them if you’ve had a real job.” McGrath isn’t the only one who believes she has what it takes to run a company and is looking for innovative ways to make it happen. Though search funds trace their roots back to Stanford University in the 1980s, the ﬁnancing model has exploded in popularity this decade as classes on the topic have proliferated at the nation’s top business schools and a robust ecosystem supporting entrepreneurship through acquisition has developed outside of academia. There are nearly 900 funds supporting

ä See ENTREPRENEURS, page 2E

Bernhard Capital is reaching ‘a big, big milestone’ several this year alone for BerWith more acquisitions, exits, south La. ofnhard Capital, the largest private equity ﬁrm between Houston and private equity firm is bucking the trend Atlanta with nearly $6.5 billion in

BY STEPHANIE RIEGEL Staff writer

On Monday, Baton Rouge-based Bernhard Capital Partners announced it had finalized a $1 billion deal to purchase a Virginiabased engineering and consulting firm, Bowman Consulting Group, that works with utilities, governments and large industrial clients around the world. Two days later, the private equity firm closed on its purchase of New Mexico Gas Co., a $1.25

billion acquisition that brings the number of regulated utilities Bernhard Capital owns to ﬁve, not including the upcoming purchase with partner Stonepeak of CLECO for nearly $6 billion. And in September, the firm is expected to launch its fourth infrastructure services fund with a target of $1.5 billion — money the ﬁrm will use to acquire and invest in more companies that design, build and service utilities and industrial facilities. The developments are the latest

assets under management and 22 active portfolio companies with some 28,000 employees across the U.S., including 3,500 in Louisiana. At a time when many private equity firms are struggling to do deals and generate attractive returns to their institutional investors — as of June 30, private equity ﬁrms had more than 33,500 unsold companies in their portfolios, Pitchbook reported, twice as many as a decade ago — Bernhard Capital is bucking the trend.

ä See BERNHARD, page 2E

Sparks fly during fabrication at the Epic Piping facility in Livingston. Bernhard Capital Partners has sold the parent company of Epic Piping and has exited all of the companies that it invested in through its first infrastructure services fund launched in 2014, which raised $750 million. STAFF FILE PHOTO By BILL FEIG

2E ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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One question to ask before you consolidate debt When you’re struggling to pay off high-interest credit card debt, taking out a consolidation loan can feel like a smart financial move. A personal Michelle loan Singletary carrycan an THE COLOR interest rate OF MONEy of about 7% if you have a good credit history, compared with credit cards charging 20% to 30%. Personal loans lock borrowers into fixed monthly installments over three to five years, making monthly payments more affordable. If you stick to the scheduled payments, you come out ahead. But what happens when everything doesn’t go as planned? In my experience, when people get a consolidation loan, they get a false sense of relief. Using an installment loan to clear your cards without addressing the underlying problem often turns into a financial game of whack-a-mole. You swing the mallet and knock down your credit card balances. But if your paycheck still isn’t enough to cover your expenses, your money problems persist. So you start reaching for those cleared-off credit cards again just to survive. Before you realize it, you’re stuck paying off the new loan along with fresh card balances. You haven’t won the game; you’re now swinging at twice as many targets. According to a new report from the nonprofit credit counseling agency Money Management International, a staggering 45% of new clients seeking help with their debt have personal loans. Among these clients, the average loan balance is nearly $19,000, up 11% from 2025. “Sometimes this becomes a bit of a shell game,” said Ted Rossman, principal consumer finance analyst for MMI. “The problem is when you pay off debt with more debt, and then you run up the cards again, you might actually be even worse off than before, unfortunately, and that’s a trend that we’re seeing.” More than half of the agency’s clients are millennials (ages 30 to 45), with an average debt of $43,533. Gen Xers (ages 46 to 61) carry the heaviest debt load of any group, averaging $53,350. Gen Z adults (ages 18 to 29) make up only 16% of clients, with an average balance of $22,848, but their indebtedness is growing faster than anyone else’s. Over the past year, MMI’s clients in this age group grew by 35%, and their average debt rose 12%. For people in their 20s, Rossman said, “There’s not as much of a cushion. They haven’t had time to amass a lot of savings. Their early-career salary is not keeping pace with student loans and housing and childcare.” Before you apply for a personal loan, ask yourself one critical question: Have I permanently fixed the cash-flow gap that created this debt? For millions of households, debt isn’t driven by reckless spending but by inflation. Higher prices for food, housing and utilities continue to outpace people’s paychecks, forcing them to rely on credit to make ends meet even after consolidating their debt. “People are in debt often for very valid reasons,” Rossman pointed out. “It’s medical bills, it’s car repairs, it’s groceries. It’s not usually a vacation or a shopping spree. ... A lot of

times it’s just day-to-day living outpacing their paycheck.” If you’re looking for debt relief, stop swapping one loan for another. Consider working with a nonprofit credit counseling agency. You can find a reputable one through the National Foundation for Credit Counseling at nfcc.org or by calling (844) 865-2828. Specifically, look into what’s called a debt management plan. Here is why it often succeeds where a consolidation loan fails. Help negotiating lower rates: The average personal loan rate as of May was close to 12%, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. The average client working with MMI in 2025 had about $24,000 in debt. The agency says it was able to help its clients reduce their interest rate, on average, from 27.91% to 7.66%. Although you can find a comparable rate on your own for a consolidation loan, you’ll need to shop around and have a good credit score to qualify for one. Built-in guardrails: Under a debt management plan, creditors require you to close the credit cards enrolled in the program. This eliminates the temptation to run up balances again while you pay off your debt. Credit score recovery: Initially, you might see a drop in your score due to closing accounts, but it will recover. Successfully completing the debt management plan can help improve your credit history over time. A study conducted by researchers from Ohio State University on behalf of the NFCC found an average 50-point increase in credit scores after about 18 months of counseling, according to Bruce McClary, a spokesman for NFCC. That boost can push you into a scoring tier with better rates when you need to borrow again. Affordable relief: Stay away from for-profit debt settlement companies. Their promise of a quick fix or of being able to “pay pennies on the dollar” is a costly trap. These companies often charge thousands of dollars in fees and instruct you to stop paying your bills to pressure creditors into negotiating a lower payoff. But this strategy can severely damage your credit score. Many borrowers end up deeper in debt than when they started. With a debt management plan, most people can expect an average activation or setup fee of $35 to $55 and an average monthly maintenance fee of $25 to $40, McClary said, noting that fees can be waived in cases of extreme hardship. Accountability and coaching: Maybe you were a spendthrift, or perhaps you struggle with budgeting. Counselors take a holistic look at your finances. If you want, a counselor can help you manage your expenses and track your spending throughout the payback process. “That level of ongoing support is not provided through a debt consolidation loan,” McClary said. Think of a counselor as the angel on your shoulder, helping you adjust your spending and steering you in the right direction. Stop playing whack-amole with your money. Working with a nonprofit credit counselor gives you the support and structure to finally end the cycle of trying to borrow your way out of debt. Email Michelle Singletary at michelle. singletary@washpost. com.

ENTREPRENEURS Continued from page 1E

searchers in North America, according to a new Stanford report. And more than 100 of those have launched in the last three years as private equity ﬁrms with money to spend look for new ways to buy into main street businesses. Search Fund Accelerator, founded in 2015, is a pioneer in the industry, bolting together a network of investors with intensive, hands-on coaching. The firm’s headquarters is in New Orleans because its founder, Tim Bovard, married a local a decade ago and moved his operation to town from its former home in Boston. Though located far Bovard from the nation’s private equity hotspots, Search Fund Accelerator was recently featured in a Wall Street Journal article as it has built a portfolio of 19 ventures, including two worth over $100 million — and its current batch of searchers hopes to add to that number. “There are a lot of younger people who want to run a business,” Bovard said. “They can either launch a startup, where the probability of failure is 90%, or there’s entrepreneurship by acquisition, where you buy a business from a retiring owner or someone who wants to transition out. It’s a pretty compelling proposition.”

Needle in a haystack There are multiple ways to buy a small business. Some entrepreneurs save or raise enough money for a down payment and apply to borrow the rest from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Others turn to family or friends. And a third category, the searchers, seeks investment from a group of traditional search funds that follow practices that have coalesced since the model was pioneered by Stanford professor Irving Grousbeck and other industry icons. Searchers usually pitch many funds in the hopes of raising money from about a dozen of them to cover two years of salary, rent, data costs and travel related to a search. If the process uncovers a viable company, searchers go back to the funds to ask for the cash to buy it in exchange for a major stake in the venture. Funds usually take 70% to 75% ownership, and a searcher becomes the company’s new CEO, unlocking levels of ownership by meeting predeter-

mined milestones. Bovard’s Search Fund Accelerator goes a step further, providing office space, training, data, mentoring and feedback to members of each year’s cohort. The firm helps them write letters of intent, negotiate acquisitions and acquire bank financing. It provides all the capital required to make a purchase, negating the need for entrepreneurs to cobble together investments from multiple sources. The only catch? Search Fund Accelerator is highly selective, choosing only a handful of candidates out of hundreds of applicants each year. Bovard said the key to success is pairing these hand-picked entrepreneurs with businesses boasting recurring revenue, low ongoing capital investment needs and a national market. Not every hotshot MBA grad has the requisite real-world experience and willingness to “jump into the void,” he said. Successes from previous Search Fund Accelerator cohorts include a psychologist and former U.S. Army officer who purchased and grew a behavioral health business in Arizona, an engineer who bought a pump repair company in Houston and more than doubled its annual revenue, and an entrepreneur who bought and sold an Arabi-based elevator service company. In all, the firm and its searchers have made 27 acquisitions. Guillermo Ochoa, a native of Mexico City who is working out of Search Fund Accelerator’s New Orleans office this year, hopes to add another one to the list. The mechanical engineer moved to Los Angeles in 2018 while working for Bimbo, the massive global commercial bakery. In his off-hours, he earned his MBA from UCLA, where a search fund class changed his career’s trajectory. “It was one of those moments when things clicked,” he said. “I didn’t have the background to launch a startup, but I always wanted to have my own business.” After earning his degree, Ochoa considered buying a company on his own with help from an SBA loan or investors. In the end, though, he chose to partner with Search Fund Accelerator. He set his sights on manufacturing and industrial services companies nationwide and entered into negotiations with about eight of them, from hot sauce manufacturers to makers of plastic car parts. Earlier this summer, he signed a letter of intent to make a purchase. He’s doing due diligence that could lead to a closing in October. “I hope it works out,” he said. “It will

be nice to stop cold calling people and start running a business.”

Interest in search funds growing One of the factors fueling the growth of search funds is the “silver tsunami” of baby boomers approaching retirement age, meaning more than 1 million businesses may hit the market between now and 2035. “A few of the retirees just want to get the biggest payday they can get, but the vast majority of them care about who’s going to take over their baby,” Bovard said. “They’re looking for a younger version of themselves if they don’t have a child who wants to take over.” But as the number of searchers grows, so does the industry’s failure rate, which hovers around 50% — although Bovard said his firm’s is closer to 20%. “A lot of the people who are going into this are probably perceived by sellers as too young with backgrounds too focused on consulting, investment banking or private equity,” he said. “Those are wonderful CVs coming out of an MBA program, but do they know how to run an elevator company?” The rising popularity of social media influencers promoting the benefits of buying businesses has also created more searchers, as has Harvard’s wellattended annual conference focused on “entrepreneurship through acquisition.” It all adds up to a process that McGrath said looks different from five years ago. “When I was searching, we were Googling and emailing people before making a connection and eventually visiting strong leads,” she said. “But the increased volume of emails and new filters have made it harder to get through.” She said today’s searchers are relying more on business brokers, trade shows visits and other creative measures to raise their profile. Some are starting their own podcasts to get attention. Les Alexander, a New Orleans native who teaches at the University of Virginia’s business school, said things won’t be slowing down any time soon. “I think this trend is going to continue at least for the next five years,” he said. “The rate of return for investors in this space is almost 34%, and for every dollar investors are putting in, they are getting nearly five back. You can’t get that from any other asset class I’m aware of.” Email Rich Collins at rich.collins@ theadvocate.com.

BERNHARD

Continued from page 1E Since the beginning of this year, the firm has sold Gray Casualty and Surety, United Utility Services and the parent company of Epic Piping, one of its original portfolio companies. The deals mean Bernhard Capital has now exited all of the companies that it invested in through its first infrastructure services fund launched in 2014, which raised $750 million. “We’re very excited about that,” said Bernhard Capital managing partner Jeff Jenkins, who co-founded the firm in 2013 with the late Jim Bernhard. “To exit all the companies from our first fund and meet the targeted return for our investors is a big, big milestone.”

PROVIDED PHOTO By JEFF JENKINS

Jeff Jenkins, left, and the late Jim Bernhard, co-founders of private equity firm When Bernhard and Jenkins launched Bernhard Capital Partners, attend the closing dinner of The Shaw Group in 2012 Bernhard Capital nearly 13 years ago, at the Windsor Court in New Orleans.

A bet on the ‘re-industrial revolution’

the Gulf Coast was on the cusp of what experts correctly predicted would be an industrial construction boom predicated on the abundance of cheap natural gas. Bernhard, who had grown The Shaw Group over two decades into a publicly traded energy and industrial services juggernaut before selling it to CB&I for $3 billion, and his younger mentee, Jenkins, saw an opportunity to leverage their experience and capitalize on the growing demand for companies that provide industrial and infrastructure services and power. In the years since, tens of billions have been spent across the country — including along the Gulf Coast — on the construction of new liquefied natural gas export terminals, petrochemical facilities and artificial intelligence data centers, fueling the need for more power plants to keep them running. At the same time, nuclear power plants are being recommissioned and new technologies are opening the door for small modular reactors to be built behind the fence lines of large industrial facilities. Bernhard Capital’s portfolio companies are doing work in all those spaces. “Their thesis has always been around infrastructure and services businesses and they have consistently focused on that, coming from an operational background with deep insight into energy and other industries,” said Gay Le Breton, managing director at investment banking firm Chaffe and Associates. “These days, we see a lot of private equity firms interested in these areas but when Bernhard Capital was formed that wasn’t so much the case.” So far, the firm has successfully closed its first three infrastructure ser-

vices funds, which raised $750 million, $1.2 billion and $1.42 billion respectively. The fourth fund, announced last week by the trade pub Pitchbook, seeks to raise $1.5 billion as it looks to capitalize on surging power demand across the U.S. Bernhard Capital ofﬁcials declined to comment on the report. Separately, the firm has two infrastructure utility funds that have funded its investments in regulated utilities — a $530 million fund that closed in 2020 and a second fund that is set to close early next year and is targeting $2 billion. Speaking broadly about the opportunities the ﬁrm sees in its future, Jenkins said, “We think growth prospects in front of us are large. Spending will be big in this re-industrial revolution.”

The other deal, the acquisition of New Mexico Gas, came after a nearly twoyear battle with opponents, including environmental activists and several key elected officials in the state who argued that Bernhard’s financing model could lead to rate hikes and that its “complex web” of holding companies could make regulatory oversight more difficult. The company is New Mexico’s largest natural gas distribution company with more than 530,000 customers and more than 12,000 miles of pipelines. Bernhard Capital eventually won over regulators, committing to keep the utility’s corporate headquarters in the state and to providing the capital for upgrades to the company’s infrastructure. The firm also agreed to a rate freeze until 2028. “New Mexico is an amazing community,” Jenkins said. “We think there is a New acquisitions lot of opportunity there. We are interThe two newest acquisitions will grow ested in investing in states and utilities Bernhard Capital’s holdings on both the that have the opportunity for growth.” infrastructure services side and in the regulated utilities sector. Email Stephanie Riegel at stephanie. The Bowman deal will give Bernhard riegel@theadvocate.com. Capital an engineering services and consulting firm with 2,500 employees worldwide and clients that include regulated utilities, governments and large data center developers. In 2021, the firm’s founder, Gary Bowman, took the company public. Now, it’s going private again, and Bowman will stay on in an executive leadership role, a model Bernhard Capital has adopted with many of the companies it has purchased. “We are institutionalizing founderowned businesses and we are fortunate that some of the best in the industry THEADVOCATE.COM/SUBSCRIBE want to partner with us,” Jenkins said.

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TALKING BUSINESS A S K T H E E X P E RT S

Century-old building material mass timber is having a moment Q&A WITH CHRISTOPHER AND SHAWNA MEyER

BY RICH COLLINS Staff writer

When husband-and-wife architects Christopher and Shawna Meyer — cofounders of the firm Atelier Mey — moved from Miami to New Orleans last year to join the faculty at Tulane University, they brought with them their appreciation for mass timber, a natural building material popular in Europe and Canada but still finding a foothold in the U.S. Essentially “plywood on steroids,” according to the Meyers, mass timber is an engineered wood product that can be used to make beams, wall panels and other components of commercial structures, apartments and single-family homes. Early forms date back more than a century, but modern breakthroughs have made it stronger and more versatile. Christopher Meyer is leading a course on the benefits and uses of mass timber this semester and hosting a symposium on the topic this fall. The Meyers also plan to start construction on a mixed-use building in New Orleans, though they won’t be the first to deploy mass timber in Louisiana. It’s been used to create the frame for a 2-year-old chapel on the campus of Loyola University and — on a much bigger scale — several buildings at Meta’s Hyperion data center in Richland Parish. In this week’s Talking Biz, the Meyers explain why they hope to see more implementation. This conversation has been edited for brevity and

FOUNDERS OF ATELIER MEy

PROVIDED PHOTO

Haley Smith, from left, former project architect at Atelier Mey, and Shawna and Christopher Meyer built ‘House in the Garden’ in Miami using mass timber, used in the shelf behind them, a natural building material the Meyers describe as ‘plywood on steroids.’ clarity. First off, what exactly is mass timber? Christopher Meyer: It’s an engineered product that’s assembled by gluing together layers of solid wood to produce a structural panel. It is most readily understood as a very large piece of plywood that can be anywhere from a few feet to 60 feet in length. Its thickness is based on structural needs, and it can be cut to form beams as well as panels. Where and how is it made? Shawna Meyer: In the Southeast, we have manufacturers of cross-laminated timber in Dothan, Alabama, and Conway, Arkansas, using Southern yellow pine, which has only been used this way since about 2019. What are the benefits and best uses of it? CM: The best use for it in building is when we can expose it to the interior as much as possible. This allows the structural system to also serve as the interior ﬁnish, eliminating other

materials, reducing environmental impact and construction costs. It’s a biogenic material, meaning it originated from living organisms. No toxic chemicals are added. Studies have shown that being surrounded by wood often provides a comforting feeling. Also, a building made from mass timber, by default, eliminates some paint, drywall and other offgassing materials. It also has other applications — to create temporary roads during construction, for instance. Mass timber is often used in commercial construction, but it’s less common in residential. Do you hope to change that? SM: Most people who are building are thinking about cost, so we highlight the economy of working with mass timber for a couple of different reasons. One is it’s milled in a factory and comes on-site as parts that are craned off a truck and put into place … in some cases, in just a few days.

That speed means savings on labor costs. When you scale up to larger projects, savings are ampliﬁed. How did you become interested in this? SM: In 2018, we moved to Miami. Chris took an assistant professor position at the University of Miami, and we launched our practice. Through that process, being immersed in both local academics and curriculum, we saw a huge void: wood was basically a bad word there because, after Hurricane Andrew in 1992, Miami made it its mission to change the code, which was great at that time. But this was 2018, and none of those codes had been reviewed based on advances in material building methodologies over the last 30 years. We applied for a wood innovation grant from the U.S. Forest Service in 2019 that was really focused on an education platform in Miami and Southern Flori-

da, building networks that linked academics, practitioners, professionals with this emerging network of mills and mass timber. As we were settling in Miami, we decided to test the material out by building a structure, which was a big risk for us because it wasn’t funded by grants. But we were able to lean on the business and knowledge networks we had developed. Where is mass timber most used today, and where is it still emerging? SM: In Europe, it’s used everywhere in a lot of ways, including single-family homes. In the United States, it’s used a lot in the Northwest. In the Southeast, Atlanta has really been the urban hub that’s leading its deployment. CM: The most common use is in two-, three-, and four-story, mixed-use buildings. Right now, some of the biggest usage in Louisiana is at data centers. There’s a building under construction at Louisiana Tech using the timber, and the chapel at Loyola uses it, although it is hidden from view. What’s your plan to build something this way in New Orleans? SM: We’re planning a mixed-use structure in the Irish Channel that will include a home, studio ofﬁce and an apartment. It’s two stories on a narrow lot, so we’re building up. CM: We want to be an open book for the city to see a project like this happen. We

want this to be a prototype, and we also want to familiarize suppliers and erectors with the territory. We’re hoping to break ground in October and be ﬁnished by next summer. What about extreme weather — and termites? CM: Mass timber is solid, which means it will be harder for objects to penetrate your house during a storm. The fastening and hold-downs are just as strong as any other material, like concrete. SM: Every house has organic materials that termites want, so the best prevention is mitigation. In Miami, we didn’t put the vegetation right next to the house so we’re not encouraging those sorts of habitats. And the walls are exposed on the inside, so we’re going to see if there’s anything happening. I don’t think anything is termite-proof, but you can manage it by being aware and taking preventive actions. How is the transition from Miami to New Orleans going? CM: This city is incredible because of the people who live in it. The quick description is “good people, good food and good music,” and that’s an easy thing to be around. But the community bonds together to understand itself as a larger entity, almost like a family. Email Rich Collins at rich. collins@theadvocate.com.

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4E ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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ACROSS THE REGION

Shreveport accounting ﬁrm expands to India as revenue, ranking grow BY LIZ SWAINE Staff writer

After 80 years in business, the Shreveport-based accounting firm Heard, McElroy & Vestal has gone multinational with an office in Ahmedabad, India. The India office, which opened Aug. 3, will join the company’s roughly 170 employees in Shreveport, Monroe and Longview, Texas. Ahmedabad is the largest city in the western Indian province of Gujarat and a prime location to find sharp accounting professionals, said Roy Prestwood, HMV’s managing partner. According to Prestwood CPA|Trendlines, the number of U.S. accounting graduates has fallen to its lowest level in roughly 20 years. The tax profession is facing a severe and deepening talent drought. HMV has job postings for experienced team members in all three U.S. offices. The trend encouraged Prestwood to look beyond traditional hiring markets. “We were looking for teammates, and so it adds an additional level of capacity for us. We’ve hired folks that are CPAs, chartered accountants, enrolled agents, and so they have credentials all of their own and they’re there to support our team here in the United States,” he said. Though new to Shreveport, offices in India are not new to the industry, said Prestwood. The country’s largest accounting firms — Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG — all have locations in India, most in every major commercial hub. According to Reuters, these centers employ upward of 160,000 people who work in auditing and tax processing. “We started looking into it for ourselves, like, oh, if we could add

STAFF FILE PHOTO By LIZ SWAINE

Heard, McElroy & Vestal employees help in a downtown Shreveport cleanup in 2021.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Heard, McElroy & Vestal, with employees in Shreveport, Monroe and Longview, started as an accounting firm in Shreveport in 1946, but now includes a family of companies that offer accounting for businesses and individuals, including tax planning and preparation, audit and assurance, business valuation, wealth advisement, mineral management and retirement plan services.

PROVIDED PHOTO

Heard, McElroy & Vestal employees change wreath lights on downtown Shreveport Christmas decorations in 2021. some capacity, it would really help our team in our busiest times of the year,” said Prestwood. “So far, it’s been a delightful process, and I think a very successful one.” The ﬁrm is also celebrating revenue growth. HMV was recently alerted that it has moved up on the

INSIDE Public Accounting annual ranking of ﬁrms across the country. It is now at No. 173 with revenues of $31.8 million.

Changes along the way HMV was started as an accounting ﬁrm in Shreveport in 1946 by

C. Berton Heard, Charles McElroy and Charles Vestal, but now includes a family of companies: HMV Wealth Advisors, Business Valuation Consultants, Align Mineral Management and HMV Retirement Plan Advisors. These related companies offer accounting for businesses and individuals, including tax planning and preparation, audit and assurance, business valuation, wealth advisement, mineral management and retirement plan services. Though tax, audit and accounting work is the “heart” of what they do, Prestwood said, “We really think of ourselves now as more of a professional services ﬁrm.” The latest of those services has been created to help businesses navigate artiﬁcial intelligence. “We’ve started up an innovation

group that is helping our clients figure out all the new changes that are occurring in technology driven by AI,” he said. That includes educating firms on AI, figuring out the right AI tools for each company, and setting up security and rules around the use of it. Prestwood said the company is always looking for new growth and hiring opportunities. He is quick to give credit for the firm’s growth to HMV’s employees. “I mean, day in and day out, they’re coming to work and with an attitude of being a servant leader, and just taking care of people’s needs, and when you do that, good things come,” he said. Email Liz Swaine at Liz. Swaine@theadvocate.com.

Working What’s

in Greater New Orleans business

with Michael Hecht President & CEO GNO Inc.

Good News on Homeowners’ Insurance For the better part of a decade, GNO, Inc. has partnered with state and federal officials to try to lower homeowners’ insurance rates. Our effort to lower rates even went international - GNO, Inc., Commissioner Temple, LED Secretary Susan Bourgeois, and others traveled to meet with Lloyd’s of London to discuss ways to reduce exposure and lower rates for homeowners. This work, combined with a recovering reinsurance market, is paying off: • • • • • •

Premium growth has nearly stopped, with annual increases essentially flat so far in 2026, down from 4.6% in 2025, 6.6% in 2024, and double digits the two years before that Fewer carriers are asking for more money: only four have filed for rate increases this year, down from 27 last year and 50 in 2024. Nine have filed for decreases 21 new carriers have been licensed to do business in Louisiana over the past three years, seven of them in 2026 alone. Homeowners who used to get two or three quotes can now get six or seven Commercial real estate rates are down about 30% on average, according to Ben Albright of the Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana Fortified roofs have grown to roughly 14,000 statewide, among the fastest-growing counts in the country Citizens, the state’s insurer of last resort, has seen enrollment drop nearly 20% from its 2022 peak, down to roughly 114,000 policies as of June

Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple points to two main drivers of this improvement. First, Temple, GNO, Inc., and others successfully advocated for regulatory reform. Our reform package curbed excessive bad faith claims, eliminated rules that scared away insurers, and funded new incentives for fortiﬁed roofs. Second, the reinsurance market that backs most Louisiana carriers has recapitalized after several storm-free years, pushing global catastrophe reinsurance prices down 16% year over year as of June, the steepest annual drop in 25 years. We are seeing the results on the ground: home sales in Greater New Orleans rose 10% in the ﬁrst half of 2026 over the same period last year, a rebound

You can read more from Biz New Orleans here

brokers tie directly to easing insurance costs. Site selectors and company executives routinely cite insurance costs as a factor in location decisions, which makes a healthier market relevant well beyond individual homeowners. The work continues. At the federal level, GNO, Inc. leads the Coalition for Sustainable Flood Insurance, a national coalition it founded in 2013 that now counts more than 900 member organizations, pushing for reform and reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program ahead of its September 30 deadline. GNO, Inc. also built an online resource for homeowners trying to navigate the improving market: the Louisiana Insurance Discount Guide walks through wind mitigation credits, FORTIFIED roof discounts, the $10,000 tax credit, and grant programs available at the state, parish, and federal level, including up to $35,000 in city-funded roof grants for eligible New Orleans homeowners. Visit gnoinc.org/insure.

You can read more from the NOLA.com here

A greater choice for business

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 5E

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CONNECTING LOUISIANA TALENT WITH LOUISIANA OPPORTUNITY

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6E ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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NATION & WORLD Today’s children could prosper in tomorrow’s shortage of young workers BY TIM HENDERSON Stateline.org (TNS)

Today’s children could be the first generation since the 1970s to do better than their parents, as young workers become more sought after and well paid. They may even see a surplus of housing to make their lives even easier after recent shortages. An abundance of young workers will turn into an undersupply by 2040, with better pay and a surplus of housing, demographers predict. Immigration and artificial intelligence are wild cards, and young workers will still be saddled with taxes to support aging boomers for a while. Some states are already seeing a shortage of young workers. North Dakota and South Dakota routinely have twice as many job openings as people looking for work, and those jobs often require physical labor that AI could never replace. Oil fracking in North Dakota, for instance, is hard, sweaty work, and truck drivers have to move the oil. “Really a lot of the Midwest is still investigating things like autonomous systems, but we’re not really there yet. So labor shortages are a thing and are an issue,” said David Flynn, an economics professor at the University of North Dakota. Those issues will hit more states, including Washington and Nevada, where people looking for work still outnumber job openings by almost 2 to 1. Today’s small children have a brighter future economically than any generation since the surge of baby boomers aged into adulthood in the early 1970s, swamping the job market and dampening pay for 20-somethings ever since, said Steven Ruggles, director of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota. “The second half of the boomers were particularly the victims of this,” Ruggles said. “They got here after things had been going great after World War II and wages had been going through the roof, and

GETTy IMAGES/TNS FILE PHOTO By ROByN BECK

Pump jacks are seen on the Bakken Shale Formation, near Williston, N.D. A recent report is predicting that the future labor market will see a shortage of young workers for the first time since before baby boomers became of working age.

“Americans born in the 2020s might be the first cohort in a half century that earns significantly more than their parents did.” STEVEN RUGGLES, director of the Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota and author then all of a sudden the bottom falls out because there’s too many of them.” Ruggles in May published a paper titled “The pig in the python” about the slow progression of baby boomers through the national economy, maintaining that a coming shortage of young workers will give them more prosperity. “We are on the verge of a radical reshaping of labor markets in which new workers will be in extremely short supply,” Ruggles wrote in the report. “We may ﬁ-

nally see real (inflation-adjusted) wages of the young exceed the levels of the early 1970s. Americans born in the 2020s might be the first cohort in a half century that earns significantly more than their parents did.” For the first time since at least 1910, people leaving the labor market will outnumber young newcomers by 2040, and rising pay may not be the only change. Housing could become more affordable too. “If construction activity remains elevated, changing demographic trends could lead to a growing oversupply of housing in more markets,” the Mortgage Bankers of America concluded in a June white paper. “We expect that this will lead to falling prices for both single-family and multifamily housing at the national level.” The “potential for oversupply and falling prices” will affect

house prices most in states such as Arizona, Florida and Texas because of fast construction — more than Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, where building has been slowed by costs and restrictive zoning, the paper noted. While the prospect of better pay and lower housing costs is something to look forward to, demographers caution that such a turnaround has been predicted before. Some “really smart economists” turned out to be “dreadfully wrong” in the 1990s when they predicated a housing market crash based on lower demand from aging boomers, said Richard Jackson, president of the Global Aging Institute, a Virginia-based research ﬁrm. “The thesis was that the baby boom was moving beyond its household formation years and there’d be a collapse in housing prices. It never happened,” Jackson said. Labor supply was also un-

expectedly boosted by women and immigrants, he noted, putting a lid on wages for the young. Still, the future drop in the numbers of young people is fairly certain, he said. “Most of the relevant demographics is already locked in. These people have already been born and so absent some Hollywood catastrophe like a colliding comet, we know how many 30-year-olds there are going to be 15 years from now,” Jackson said. Immigration is also a wild card, with many recent arrivals drawn by the need for skilled young workers in construction and other trades. “It definitely helped prolong the glut of labor,” Ruggles said. “Wages might have turned around a little quicker if there had been less of a boom in immigration, but to some extent the immigrant jobs were ones that didn’t directly compete with U.S. workers like farm labor.” It’s hard to predict the effect of the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda on future arrivals. Ruggles said his analysis holds across a wide range of possible immigration outcomes. The population of young adults could grow “a bit” or shrink over the next 20 years depending on immigration policy, said Julia Gelatt, associate director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Program at the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Without immigrants and their children, the population of children and young adults would have shrunk by 5 million after the year 2000, according to a 2024 MPI report co-authored by Gelatt. “Whether any of that translates to higher wages seems pretty uncertain to me,” Gelatt said. “With slower population growth, or population stagnation, labor demand is unlikely to keep growing at the pace it has been. There will not be the same growth in the number of people buying goods and services. And nobody is sure yet of how AI will affect labor markets.”

LOOKING BEYOND:

Jones Walker on Representing Louisiana’s Construction Industry Leaders Pt. I

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The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 7E

NATION & WORLD

Lab testing plasticware created from sugar Researchers hopeful of engineering biodegradable packaging alternative BY JENNIFER MCDERMOTT

Associated Press

WOBURN, Mass. — At a Massachusetts lab, pebble-sized pellets are transformed into forks and films that won’t leave persistent microplastics in the environment. These are bioplastic pellets. CJ Biomaterials ferments sugar to make plant-based polymers that microbes will consume. These alternatives to traditional plastics made of fossil fuels are seen by some as one of many solutions needed to confront global plastic pollution. At the company’s Woburn research facility, lab technicians recently poured pellets into a molding machine to make forks. The test forks were thin enough for home composting, though too bendy for stabbing a steak. Other batches have been rigid, similar to a typical plastic fork. The technicians melted pellets to roll out flexible films for food packaging, like a bag for baby carrots. The film was quite strong but not stretchy like cling wrap. They are figuring out how their biopolymers can make products with attributes similar to conventional plastics, but that can go in a composting bin instead of a trash can. Forks and films are breaking down in the lab’s compost bin. Straws that were added are long gone. A recently tossed-in knife showed pitting on the surface as bacteria colonized it, starting to consume the material. Plastics have never really fundamentally been disrupted. Now, interest in bioplastics is growing because of concern over microplastics. It’s the new “wild card” in this market, said the company’s marketing director Leah Ford. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and the compostability has always been a really strong driver. But with the greater understanding of microplastics, I think, that’s

going to change how people think about materials,” she said. Traditional plastics last for decades or even centuries as they fragment into harmful microplastics and even smaller nanoplastics. Microplastics have been found in the ocean and the air, in our food and water, and in a wide range of body tissues. The Trump administration, while rolling back many environmental regulations, says it will address contamination from microplastics. Bioplastics are biobased, meaning they are made completely or partially from a renewable resource, commonly corn or sugar cane; or they are biodegradable, meaning that they break down completely via a natural process. They can also be both, like the polymers made by CJ Biomaterials. It’s a leader in manufacturing polyhydroxyalkanoates as a polymer that is marine and soil biodegradable. CJ Biomaterials is trying to replace conventional plastics that are single-use or can’t be recycled when contaminated with food scraps. Food waste decomposing in landﬁlls emits methane, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the planet. A container made of pellets from CJ Biomaterials with food scraps could be sent to a composter, unlike a traditional plastic container. The Woburn lab’s shelves display the company’s successes: compostable cutlery, straws, coated cups for hot beverages and frozen food pouches used in the United States, sushi trays, ramen containers and reusable paper towels. Lab employees dine with compostable cutlery, drink from compostable cups and make coffee with compostable pods. These products last on shelves because they are not exposed to microorganisms in water or soil. CJ Biomaterials feeds sugar to microbes that convert it to PHA

ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By CHARLES KRUPA

Katie Byun holds up a compostable knife, which was made with plastic made from plants, that was starting to break down after about two months in a home composting test bin at CJ Biomaterials in Woburn, Mass. for energy. The company collects the PHA and turns it into granules. Pellets of this are then sold to other companies that can melt them down and mold them into products. These same bacteria will consume PHA in a compost pile, breaking it down within six months, Ford said. CJ Biomaterials is part of the $32 billion South Korean conglomerate CJ Group. It has been producing PHA at a manufacturing facility in Pasuruan, Indonesia, since 2022. World Wildlife Fund sees biobased plastics as part of a suite of solutions that are needed. They can reduce the world’s dependency on fossil fuels that cause climate change, said Erin Simon, a WWF vice president. She said the world needs to reduce the amount of plastic being produced, then make the rest sustainably. Nations are trying to confront the spiraling plastic pollution crisis by crafting a landmark treaty. They

have yet to agree on any effective methods to stop plastic pollution, though negotiators plan to meet again early next year. U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., has held congressional hearings on plastic pollution, including one exploring alternatives for single-use plastics. He also views bioplastics as one option with potential, among many that are needed. But, he said, more information is needed about how they break down and impact ecosystems and health. Environmental groups, including the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives, argue that bioplastics maintain the single-use paradigm and distract from real solutions. Some say farmland shouldn’t be used to grow crops for plastic instead of food. Globally, biobased plastics represent roughly 0.5% of the more than 440 million tons of plastics produced annually, according to the in-

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dustry group European Bioplastics. Production is projected to double by 2030 due to rising demand and the emergence of more advanced applications and products, it said. There are obstacles to widespread adoption. Bioplastics typically cost more than conventional plastics. Major cities have municipal composting programs, but they are limited elsewhere. A growing number of composting facilities accept compostable bioplastic products, though some refuse out of concern about degraded soil quality. And because bioplastics and conventional plastics often look and feel identical, they can be mixed up and cause problems for composters. Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute and a researcher, said people should use biodegradable options, especially for packaging. Otherwise, he said, “we’re going to ﬂood the entire biosphere with micro- and nanoplastics.”

8E ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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PEOPLE IN BUSINESS Staff report South Louisiana businesses and nonproﬁt groups recently announced the following promotions, new hires and resignations.

New Orleans Larry Lovell, a veteran strategic communications consultant who spent two decades with Peter Mayer Advertising, has launched a new ﬁrm, Larry Lovell PR. Lovell, a guest lecturer Lovell at Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business, also serves on the Touro LCMC Health governing board and as the treasurer of the Press Club of New Orleans.

security for Delgado Community College and security chief for Louisiana, has been appointed executive director of safety and emergency preparedness. Jose Campuzano, who previously worked for the Defense Department police, Louisiana Campuzano State Police and Dillard University, has been named the LSUNO’s new police chief.

Resource Bank announced the hiring of a trio of commercial and private banking ofﬁcers. Brandi Joseph and Tim Keller work out the bank’s Metairie branch, while Brandon Walker works out of the Baton Rouge branch, though he will work from the LSU New Orleans announced new Gonzales branch when construction is the hiring of complete. two new public safety execuSTEM NOLA tives. announced the Eddie Compass, hiring of two who was chief new staffers. of the New OrShaq Cossé was leans Police named the new D e p a r t m e n t Cossé Compass business client during Hurricane Katrina, chief of campus manager for the education-fo-

Fool’s Take: Considering Microsoft

Microsoft shareholders have had a disappointing year, with shares up about 4% as of early August. But Microsoft shares are rather attractively priced for would-be investors. The stock’s Motley forward-looking Fool price-to-earnings ratio was around 25 in early August, below the ﬁveyear average of roughly 29. The company has a lot going for it: It encompasses not only the ubiquitous Windows operating system, but also the dominant Ofﬁce 365 suite of applications, the second-largest cloud computing platform Azure, the

Joseph

Keller

Walker

Xbox gaming platform and even LinkedIn, among many other offerings. Like other huge tech companies, Microsoft has been investing heavily in artiﬁcial intelligence and incorporating it into many of its products and services. Some investors are concerned that it has been spending billions of dollars on AI infrastructure, but it will take a while to see how those investments pay off. In the meantime, its Azure platform is growing robustly, and the company’s contracted backlog (a source of future revenue) recently doubled year over year to $627 billion. Microsoft is also a dividend-paying stock. Though it recently yielded only a bit over 0.7%, the payout has been growing at an aver-

cused nonproﬁt. Cossé, a board member of Southern Partners Fund and Raices Nuevas, previously worked as a program manager for Son of a Saint and Louisiana Bucket Brigade. Mia Augillard, who previously worked for the Boston-based Augillard public relations firm PAN Communications, was named the organization’s communications director.

ing Capital, Renaissance Neighborhood Development Corp. and Capital One, has been named s e n i o r v i c e Callihan president and commercial market manager for the Baton Rougebased bank. He will be based in New Orleans. Drew Hampson, Hampson who previously Baton Rouge worked for Hearthside Bank, Dr. Lexi Champagne has been joints Investar’s Lafayette hired by Baton Rouge Gen- team as a vice president and commercial relationship maneral, where she will be based ager. out the primaMichael Doerr ry care clinic has been proat its neighborhood hospital in moted to senior Prairieville. vice president Champagne, and senior coman Ascension Champagne mercial bankParish native, ing sales mancompleted her residency at ager for First Doerr BRG’s Family Medicine Resi- Horizon Bank. Before joining what was dency Program. then IberiaBank in 2010, Doerr Investar Bank announced the worked as a vice president of hiring of two new executives. commercial banking for WhitWilliam Callihan, who previous- ney National Bank in Baton ly worked for Hudson Hous- Rouge.

age annual rate of 10% over the past ﬁve years. Long-term, risktolerant investors are likely to do well investing in Microsoft. (The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Microsoft.)

Fool’s School: Think twice before renting out property Buying properties and renting them out may seem like a ticket to great wealth. It certainly has helped plenty of people get rich, but it’s generally not as easy as it may seem. The upside is clear: You can collect regular rent payments from tenants and can deduct many expenses related to your real estate business, such as repairs. The income you receive can offset the mortgage and other costs. Over time, the value

of your property should (but may not!) increase, and, if you’re a handy sort, you might save money on repairs and upkeep by doing much of the work yourself. But you won’t just start out collecting checks. You’ll first need to find and buy the right kind of property. Then you’ll need to find good tenants, and it’s not always easy to tell the good from the bad. Bad tenants can deliver massive headaches, perhaps being delinquent in payments or damaging your property. You might hire a property management company to find tenants and manage them and the property, but that can cost you around 8% to 12% of the rent collected. If you need or want to evict a tenant, it can be trickier than you expect, as tenants generally have legal protections. Even

Across Louisiana Drew Taggert, who previously worked as a partner at the Houstonbased law ﬁrm Bracewell, has been named general coun- Taggart sel of Danos. First Horizon Bank announced the hiring of a new executive and three new associates at its Lafayette ofﬁce. Larr y Lanclos, who formerly worked for Cadence Bank, Business First Lanclos Bank and St. Martin Bank & Trust, has been named vice president and commercial relationship manager. Tyler Pierret was hired as a commercial portfolio manager, while Ami Snell and Kelsey Breard were hired as commercial credit analysts. Do you have personnel changes to share or other ideas for our business coverage? Drop us a line at biztips@theadvocate.com.

when things are going well, you’ll occasionally have a month or two between tenants when the property is uninhabited and not generating rental income. And, of course, you’ll be on the hook for not only any mortgage payments, but also expenses for property taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs. (For example, you may need to repaint between tenants and occasionally replace carpeting.) You may even be paying for utilities, unless you have your tenants doing that. Read up on local investment property laws — and perhaps also read a book such as “Real Estate Investing for Dummies,” by Eric Tyson and Robert S. Griswold. Remember that you can always invest in stocks or funds focusing on real estate instead.

The biggest stories in business, delivered to you every weekday

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ 9E

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MADE IN LOUISIANA

Big Easy Blends rolling out kids’ breakfast drinks Company moves to make more of it own products BY GRACE MAYER

Staff writer

In the nearly 20 years that Big Easy Blends has been blending juices, frozen drinks and pouched cocktails, the manufacturer has become better known for making private-label products for big national brands like Welch’s and ICEE than for its own beverages. That may be starting to change. Earlier this year, the Elmwoodbased company launched a new brand, Blendology, that makes a line of breakfast and lunch drinks — fruit slushies and yogurt smoothies — for school kids. Packaged in the company’s signature pouches, Big Easy Blends has started selling the Blendology drinks to K-12 school districts and distributors around the country. Since its launch in July, the company has already inked deals with school systems in over a dozen states, including California, Texas and Florida. And the company’s three founders expect the pivot to be big for the business, which did $20 million in sales last year. Every day on average, just over 12 million students in K-12 schools in the U.S. receive breakfast for free or at a reduced price at school, according to data from the Food Research and Action Center, a nonproﬁt that publishes research and data on federal nutrition programs. Lunch participation is nearly double that amount. Big Easy Blends’ products are also meeting a particular health moment, as parents express concern about artiﬁcial food dyes and added sugars. Blendology products have none. “A lot of people say schools are the largest restaurant chain in the nation,” co-founder Sal LaMartina said.

Craig Cordes and Sal and Antonio LaMartina began Big Easy Blends manufacturing Cordina freezable alcoholic drinks. Their Elmwood Big Easy Blends launched their new juice slushie and yogurt smoothie operation eventually pivoted to making private-label products but are product line, Blendology, in July. changing focus back to their own brand — this time pouch products for ers were being lauded in Inc. Mag- school kids. Blending business strategies PROVIDED PHOTOS By BIG EASy BLENDS

Big Easy Blends got its start in 2007, when Antonio LaMartina pitched his brother Sal LaMartina and Craig Cordes, a high school friend, on a plan to sell alcohol in Capri Sun-style pouches — a vision born from college and young adult years spent partying. At the time, the trio were early in their careers in auditing, sales and the financial services, yet undeterred by their inexperience. They faced a significant learning curve building Big Easy Blends, they say now. “We had no experience in alcohol. That’s when my brother would say, ‘Wrong, I have a lot of experience in alcohol,’ ” Sal LaMartina said. The result was Cordina Frozen Cocktails, a product line that included Mar-GO-Rita and Pina-GOLada drinks. Working in the alcohol space was exciting for the founders, and it helped build their company’s name recognition and reputation. In those first five years, Big Easy Blends built its own manufacturing facility — later growing the factory from 55,000 to 95,000 square feet in Elmwood. It also became clear in that time making their own alcohol products wasn’t sustainable. “We lost a ton of money,” LaMartina said. “We never made money in the alcohol space.” In 2012, while Big Easy Blends’ agave-based cocktails and found-

azine’s 30 under 30 list and sold in Walmart and Walgreens locations around the country, the founders were plotting a new direction. They pivoted away from making their own frozen cocktails to building a robust business licensing and manufacturing juice and alcohol products for well-known brands, including Aldi and Airheads. Their ﬁrst big client was Slush Puppie’s ICEE frozen slushies. “We thought we would sell maybe 20,000 cases of ICEE product the first year,” LaMartina said. “We sold like 200,000 cases in 90 days.”

Adult cocktails to kids juice About a year ago, Big Easy Blends’ leadership team sat down and reflected on where they wanted to go as a business and what they wanted to be known for. They knew their strengths were in creating flexible pouch packaging and creating frozen products. They also knew they wanted to create healthier products. They realized their company was built for kids, said LaMartina. “Alcohol to kids’ drinks. It’s a pretty far spectrum from where we started,” said Cordes, the chief financial owner. “It’s kind of indicative of how we’ve grown as people as well as owners.” Developing their first products — a fruit juice slushie and a yogurt smoothie — began a year ago. They

wanted to create a healthy product line with real fruit and no added sugars. The team was also operating under tight time constraints, aiming to get products in schools before the start of the 2026 school year. Creating a yogurt smoothie that was shelf-stable, key for school kitchens with limited fridge storage, was a new challenge. They hired a former Unilever food scientist who spent months developing the smoothie, conducting countless trials, adjusting fill levels and product formulations, before finally landing on a combination that worked. “All the way up until our very first production run, the smoothie was foaming out of the pouch. It was a complete mess,” LaMartina said. “We threw away six figures worth of product.” On the factory floor, 18 tanks that can hold 2,000 gallons of product blend liquids together, yielding a sorbet-like texture for Blendology’s products and Big Easy Blends’ other licensed products. “There’s some secret sauce in our equipment that helps us bind all of the ingredients together so that the ice and flavor are not just separating,” LaMartina said. Then, two production lines, one for the juice slushie and another for the smoothie, fill and seal 360 pouches per minute, five days a

week, 24 hours a day. The smoothie and juice pouches are filled upside down. When kids tear off the tops of their frozen juice pouches — which come in four flavors — they can collect 40 finger puppet cartoon characters. Blendology products are currently being shipped to schools in 15 states, including California, Florida, Texas, Maine, Georgia and Colorado. The Big Easy Blends team is working on sending bids to school districts in New Orleans and throughout Louisiana. And it’s waiting to hear back from bids in around 42 states, said Morgan Ebersole, customer service sales coordinator. Big Easy Blends’ 40-person team is already working on more products for schools. Currently, around 90% of the company’s business comes from making licensed products, while 10% is from the Blendology brand. Over time, Big Easy Blends hopes to get those figures closer to an even fifty-fifty split, LaMartina said. “We’ve never seen so many yeses,” LaMartina said of the Blendology products. “Our biggest concern right now isn’t, can we create a good product? We’re starting to worry, can we keep up?” Email Grace Mayer at grace. mayer@theadvocate.com.

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10E ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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Why Louisiana? The Risk and Reward Behind a $32 Billion Data Center Push

In less than 18 months, Louisiana has transformed from virtually no hyperscale data center presence to hosting three of the largest projects in the country, led by major digital leaders. A $10 billion campus in Richland Parish,1 a $12 billion investment across Caddo and Bossier Parishes,2 and a $10 billion River Bend facility in West Feliciana Parish1 represent a combined $32 billion commitment that places Louisiana at the center of the national data center boom. Construction is now underway. Developers chose Louisiana for good reasons. The state’s industrial

With conﬁrmed projects now spread across the northwest, northeast

contractors have spent decades building reﬁneries, chemical

and southeast of the state, underwriters are watching how that

plants and LNG facilities — complex, high-stakes work at scale.

geographic concentration accumulates across their books.

This expertise transfers directly to data center construction, and

Power and water draw are legitimate community concerns. Data

it’s a meaningful edge. Louisiana contractors are already building

centers consume both at a scale that strains local grids and utility

data centers across the country because they’re among the best

capacity. Some Louisiana power companies are already planning

at this type of work. Siting a project in the state keeps that talent

upgrades to support the new demand. Longer term, on-site

close, resulting in faster project delivery and tighter cost control.

generation, including small modular reactors, may reduce grid

Site selection also reﬂects a clear-eyed insurance calculation. Two of the three major projects sit in North Louisiana, near the Arkansas border. Locating away from the Gulf Coast hurricane corridor materially changes the underwriting math.

dependency for future builds. These aren’t unsolvable problems. But they need to be part of the project plan from day one.

Building success: What it takes to get it right Done right, projects of this scale bring lasting returns. The tax revenue will ﬂow into Louisiana communities over decades, into

“

These facilities are in North Louisiana because it’s more affordable to secure the coverage and limits required — it’s an insurance decision as much as a location one.

”

Troy Wagener, Area Executive Vice President, Gallagher

education, infrastructure and economic development, well beyond what direct employment from a data center operation alone would deliver. Louisiana moved early in this cycle and secured a strong position. Getting that right starts before ﬁnancing closes, with construction risk, supply chain exposures, power strategy and operational coverage all aligned from day one. That includes parametric triggers for business interruption — coverage that activates without a

The risk picture in Louisiana

physical loss — which matters when a grid failure or supply chain

Louisiana’s broader property and casualty market, by Wagener’s

delay can cost millions before a single claim is ﬁled.

current read, is stable. The insurance market is absorbing an

Gallagher’s Data Center Solutions team works with developers,

unprecedented volume of high-limit construction requests as data

contractors and operators across the full project lifecycle. To

center builds accelerate nationwide. Excess liability and commercial

connect with our Louisiana team, visit AJG.com/louisiana.

automobile liability for contractor ﬂeets — already under pressure in large construction programs — face genuine capacity constraints when a single site is worth $10 billion to $15 billion. In Louisiana speciﬁcally, those pressures are sharper: commercial automobile liability rates for construction rank among the highest in the country, and excess liability capacity for large industrial programs is genuinely constrained. That friction shows up in pricing, deductibles and what carriers will actually put on the table.

Troy Wagener

Area Executive Vice President

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Climate perils compound that scrutiny. North Louisiana avoids the worst of the Gulf Coast hurricane corridor, but major storms still push wind and rain well inland. Inland ﬂooding and severe convective storms are live perils across all three project locations.

1“Louisiana’s Growing Data Center Pipeline,” BIZ Magazine, 3 Mar 2026. 2“Amazon Selects Louisiana for $12 Billion Data Center Campuses in Major U.S. Expansion,” Louisiana Economic Development, 23 Feb 2026.

AJG.com/Louisiana | The Gallagher Way. Since 1927.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ 1F

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homes.nola.com Search & Place Ads Online at classiﬁeds.theneworleansadvocate.com • Call Us Monday - Friday 8AM - 5PM at (504) 636-7435

OPEN

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2846 Steamship Circle, Unit E • River Ridge $165,000 Adorable, move-in-ready townhome-style condo! Quiet cul-de-sac location w/ low-maintenance living, open liv/din area w/wood-burningfrplc,spaciouskitchen,privatepatio&courtyard. 2 beds, 2 full baths, walk-in closet, attic storage, chair lift, W&D, refrigerator & 2-car parking. Near Elmwood, airport, shopping, restaurants, parks, & downtown N.O. Furnishings may remain. Charisse Toups-Hanchey 225-315-0512 Coldwell Banker ONE 225-925-2500

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Elegant 3 Bed, 2,5 Bath, 2,397 SqFt Townhome featuring wood floors, chef’s kitchen, fireplace, office, Sonos audio, & luxurious primary suite with two custom walk-in closets. Enjoy a covered patio, beautifully landscaped yard, gated entry, security system & 3-car off-street parking. Recently updated roof, A/C, fencing, landscaping & more. Walk to shopping, dining & amenities. Shaun Talbot sktalbot@talbot-realty.com 504-975-9763 Talbot Realty Group www.talbot-realty.com 504-525-9763

FISH AND CHIPS

LIVING THE LIFE!

LISTING

$449,900

Custom-built luxury & elegant 3 Bd, 2 Ba, 1,862 SqFt home showcasing cathedral ceilings, updated flooring, w/ exceptional craftsmanship. Gourmet kitchen has quartz counters & custom tile backsplash. No carpet. Completely renovated guest bath & ovrszd primary bath. Enjoy WiFi-controlled drvwy gate, security system, newer windows, 2021 roof & gutters & so much more! Andree Charvet 504-881-1234 United Real Estate Partners 504-305-4932

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$669,000 1040 Cadiz Street • Uptown

$1,395,000

A custom-built 5 Bd, 3 Ba, 2,673 Sf retreat just 30 minutes from downtown N.O.! Open floor plan w/ natural light, wraparound balcony w/ bonus cargo lift. Sleeps 18+, primary ste, luxurious bath. Outdoor full bath w/ shower, priv lighted pier, boathse w/ boat lifts & views of Lake Pontchartrain. Endless boating, fishing, crabbing & swimming! Possible Income Producing Property! Andree Charvet 504-881-1234 United Real Estate Partners 504-305-4932

Renovated New Orleans corner lot home, walking distance to Prytania & Magazine Streets. Stunning 4 Bed, 3 Bath, 2,805 SqFt residence blends historic charm with modern luxury, featuring soaring ceilings, original pine floors, Thermador appliances, designer Visual Comfort lighting, & a flexible bonus room. Enjoy a welcoming front porch, rear yard & gated off-street parking. Kristen Koppel 504-613-7948 The RK Group / Valmont Realtors 504-525-3067

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33ChateauMoutonDr•Kenner/ChateauEstates $1,099,000 25649 Chef Menteur Hwy • On Lake Catherine French Villa elegance meets breathtaking golf-course views. This 6 Bed, 4.5 Bath, 5,402 SqFt home features dual 1st floor primary suites, soaring 2-story foyer, spacious den, media room, cabana, pool, covered patio and spectacular sunsets. Roof replaced 2024, pool refurbished 2026, updated throughout, move-in ready, and located in Flood Zone X. Move-in-Ready! Life is good! Diane Rosenbach 504-417-8787 Compass • Metro / Metairie 504-888-4585

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4824FairfieldSt•Metairie/PontchartrainGardens $400,000 415 Focis Street • Old Metairie Beautiful home featuring wood floors, cozy den fireplace & granite kitchen counters. Spacious downstairs primary suite w/ 3 closets plus flexible nursery/office/dressing room. Two large upstairs bedrooms. Deep backyard provides room for a pool & yard. Two walk-in attics, attached 2-car garage, security system, new roof and downstairs A/C (2025). 2,417 SqFt. Wendy Hinyub 504-559-4808 504-455-0100 Keller Williams Realty 455-0100 Metairie

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2F ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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HOUSE Algiers-Former Double. 4Brms, 2baths. Great location. Fully fenced. $119,000.00 713-398-6027 elanza@soldbyelanza.com 4710 MUSIC STREET, GENTILLY Home For Sale or Rent. $250,000 or $2,000/month. Ready October 1st. Call James 817-891-0453.

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APARTMENT METAIRIE

10,000 Apt Homes and 75 Locations with Studio, 1, 2 & 3 Bedrooms Pools, Access Gates, Garages (504) 360-9347

DUPLEX 8629 Apricot St. 3Br/1Ba, Cnt a/h, Sec 8. No Pets $1300. 504-344-2324

APARTMENT 5708-B Tullis Dr, Westbank, 4BR/2BA. Stove, Refrigerator, Utilities, w/d Hookup, Central A/C, OffStreet Parking, Near Bus, $1800; 504-4543847 Ofﬁce, 504-512-2814 MP.

APARTMENT WESTBANK * $1300/Mo. 2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, 4-Car Garage/Workshop. Pets OK. 504-913-4263 APARTMENT WESTBANK * 3 Bedrooms /2.5 Baths, Double Garage, Private Yard. $1,800/Mo. 504-913-4263 GENTILLY 2544 ALLEN TOUSSAINT BLVD. NEWLY RENOVATED!!! 1-2 Bdrm Apts * From $800/mo Parking * Sec Gate 504-209-8054 * 504-454-1333

KENNER

2850 IDAHO AVENUE 1 Block to Vets & Williams All Amenities * Pool * Parking Studio/1 Bed Apt * Starting $650/Mo 504-385-5482 * 504-454-1333

APARTMENT Efﬁciency #E $800. 4327 & 4329 Hollygrove Street: 1 Bedroom. Water Pd $900. 504-313-2192 METAIRIE 3201 RICHLAND AVENUE 1/2 Block off Vets * by Paretti Jaguar 1 Bed * Prkg * Pool * Rent $675/mo 504-320-6958 * 504-454-1333 METAIRIE 3513 EDENBORN AVENUE Lrg 2 Bed, 1 Bath * $925 * Off St Prkg Blocks from Lakeside 504-982-4040 * 504-885-8060 504-454-1333

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CLASSIFIEDS WORK

jobs.nola.com Search Place Onlines at jobs.nola.com • Call Us Monday - Friday 8AM 8AM - 5PM at at (504) Search &&Place AdsAds Online at classiﬁeds.theneworleansadvocate.com • Call Us Monday - Friday - 5PM (504) 636-7435 636-7435 Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Michele Downey please contact attorney Cristy Chazan at 504-5256802. 197609-Aug 15-17, 3t $37.80

Announcements 3N1AB8DV7NY304784 NISSAN is stored at 9581 Westbank Expressway, Westwego, LA, 70094. If all current charges are not paid and vehicle claimed by the owner by 9/5/2026 a Permit to Sell may be obtained. 197532-Aug 15-16, 2t $76.80

Employment EDUCATION Jefferson Parish Schools is hiring

Speech Language Therapists, School Psychologists & Certified Teachers

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of any heirs, legatees, successors or assigns of Donald H. Murphy, Sr., please contact Thomas P. Sanderson, Curator Ad Hoc, at (504) 586-0064, 4224 Canal St., NOLA 70119, or tps@boninlawﬁrm.com. Property rights involved. 197536-Aug 15-17, 3t $111.10

to fill the following critical shortage areas: ELA, ESL, Math, Science and Special Education. A hiring stipend is offered for teachers hired at target schools and/or in target content areas. For more information and to apply, visit www.jpschools.org/teach

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of Erica Lynn Stephens, divorced wife of Melvin Stephens please contact Attorney Keith A. Doley 504943-7071. 197744-Aug 15-17, 3t $75.40

When you need the news. Wherever you read the news.

Anyone knowing the whereabouts of MATTHEW S. DAVID, who at one time resided at 412 Jade Avenue, Metairie, LA 70003, please contact Thomas S. Block, Atty., 504-382-1204, Property Rights Involved. 197555-Aug 15-17, 3t $96.40

Public Notices

Public Notices Bids/Proposals

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Legal Notices

(“NBSF”).

The Louisiana Ofﬁce of State Parks is requesting proposals for a PublicPrivate Partnership pro‐ ject to design, construct, and operate a high-qual‐ ity recreational vehicle campground and related amenities. For more in‐ formation go to opportu‐ nitiesinlouisiana.com.

The lawsuit alleges that NBSF engaged in wrong‐ ful conduct relating to the education and gradu‐ ation of students, includ‐ ing allegations of negli‐ gence, fraud, misrepre‐ sentation, grade and transcript irregularities, and other acts that al‐ legedly caused damages to students and their parents or legal guardians. The Defen‐ dants deny all allega‐ tions. The Court has not determined whether Plaintiffs or Defendants are correct.

192988-jul 2-aug 31-t

WHO IS INCLUDED?

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

The Court has certiﬁed the following class:

The Lowlander Center (https://www.lowland ercenter.org/) is an‐ nouncing a Request for Proposals (RFP) due Monday, August 31, to deconstruct spoil banks for a Canal Spoil Re‐ placement (Backfilling) Project. Please email admin@lowlandercenter. org with any questions by Tuesday, August 11. All questions and an‐ swers will be posted on the Lowlander Center canal backfilling project page (https://www.low landercenter.org/canalbackfilling) by Tuesday, August 18. Please see the project page for RFP, per‐ mits, plat maps, back‐ ground information about the project, and an informational slidedeck.

Those persons who were either a parent/legal guardian of a student, or a student who attended John F. Kennedy High School at Lake Area in New Orleans, Louisiana (“Kennedy”), during the 2018-2019 school year, and were either (a) a member of the Class of 2019 or (b) a member of the Class of 2020, who claim to have suffered damages as a direct and proximate result of New Beginnings School Foun‐ dation's management and operation of Kennedy.

This project is partially funded by the National Oceanic and Atmos‐ pheric Administration (NOAA), through a grant agreement with the Na‐ tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation, grant award number: NA23NOS4730219. The views and conclusions contained in this docu‐ ment are those of the au‐ thors and should not be interpreted as represent‐ ing the opinions or poli‐ cies of the U.S. Govern‐ ment or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and its funding sources. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement by the U.S. Government, or the Na‐ tional Fish and Wildlife Foundation or its funding sources.

This is a condensed ver‐ sion of the full Court-ap‐ proved notice for publi‐ cation only. To obtain the complete notice and the Request for Exclusion (Opt Out Form) you must contact class counsel at www.BagnerisLawFirm. com/KennedyClassAct ion or contact Class Counsel at: The Bagneris Firm, LLC 1929 Jackson Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70113, Tele‐ phone: (504) 810-3995; Email: sbagneris@bag nerislawﬁrm.com.

196005-aug 1-31-31t $$4,838.79

Legal Notices

PUBLIC NOTICE --Civil District Court #2026-07047 Tutorship of Madeline Anna Lemon NOTICE is hereby given that Tiffany LaCroix has ﬁled an application in the above-captioned matter to be appointed tutor of the above-mentioned minor, and that she may be appointed tutor after expiration of ten (10) days from the date of this publication or from the date of mailing of no‐ tice, whichever period is longer. Any opposition to this application must be ﬁled in Court prior to ap‐ pointment. 197597-aug 16-1t $94.32 PUBLIC NOTICE --NOTICE OF CERTIFIED CLASS ACTION DARNETTE DANIELS, ET AL. v. STATE OF LOUISIANA, ET AL. Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans No. 2019-6895, Division “B” THIS NOTICE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED BY THE CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE PARISH OF OR‐ LEANS. THIS IS NOT A SO‐ LICITATION FROM A LAWYER. A class action lawsuit is pending in the Civil Dis‐ trict Court for the Parish of Orleans involving alle‐ gations concerning the management and opera‐ tion of John F. Kennedy High School at Lake Area by New Beginnings Schools Foundation

If you meet this deﬁni‐ tion, this lawsuit may af‐ fect your legal rights. Please read the complete notice before you make a decision.

YOUR RIGHTS If you are a member of the certiﬁed class, you have two options: • Remain a member of the class and be repre‐ sented by Court-ap‐ pointed Class Counsel You will be bound by fu‐ ture Court rulings, judg‐ ments, or settlements. If a recovery is obtained, you may be eligible to participate, subject to any future Court-ap‐ proved claims process, and may be required to submit additional infor‐ mation such as a proof of claim form. You may ob‐ tain your own counsel at your own expense. • Request exclusion (“opt out”) from the class by OCTOBER 1, 2026. If you ask to be excluded from the class by the opt-out deadline, you will not be bound by any judgment rendered by the Court. You will keep the right to sue NBSF separately, at your own expense, if permitted by law. There is currently no set‐ tlement or judgment, and no trial date pending. If a settlement or judgment is obtained in the future, the Court will provide ad‐ ditional notice regarding any claims process.

Legal Notices

Sun Food LLC in New Orleans seeks Chi‐ nese specialty food cook. Plan menus, prepare ingredients, and cook Chinese cuisine. Garnish and serve food to wait‐ ers on order. Estimate food consump‐ tion and order supplies. 2 yrs. Exp. In Chinese cooking, Send resume to: Meng Sun, Sun Food LLC, 1218 Decatur St. New Orleans, LA 70116. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Cint USA, Inc. seeks a Software Engi‐ neer II to develop real time data pipelines and solve big data problems. Requires MS in Comp Sci, Tech Manage‐ ment, or clsly rel. field and 1 yr rel. exp. Position allows working from home anywhere in the US. HQ located at 1235 Saint Thomas Street, Suite 201, New Or‐ leans, LA 70130. For full details and to apply, contact Kelly.young@cint.com.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom. us/j/86725218911? pwd=AczazANrSMzvT26 Eo3m1MecDbfG6Ct.1 Meeting ID: 867 2521 8911 Passcode: UFJ0tC 197271-aug 13-27-15t $180.10 PUBLIC NOTICE --PUBLIC NOTICE: The 20262027 budget for Success Preparatory Academy will be presented at the September board meet‐ ing at 6pm on 9/2/26 at the school (4621 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119). A public hearing will be held at the conclusion of the presentation on 9/2/26. Details, including agenda, minutes and changes, to be posted at www.thurgood marshall nola.org. The proposed budget is available for public inspection at the school starting 8/17/26. One can also email eed‐ wards@thurgoodmarshal lnola.org to request a copy of the budget.

CONSTRUCTION Hiring for Utility Hands and Tank Clean‐ ers. Must hav a aTWIC CARD, PEC, AND T HUET. RESUMES MUST BE EMAILED TO TMCTHAWK0619@GMAIL.COM

Public Notices Sex Offenders

CEMETERY PLOTS Westlawn Cemetery Mausoleum, in the Chapel. Corr IV, Tier A, holds 6 interments $17,500. 504-259-0505

NEWS 24/7 ON

Public Notices Sex Offenders

Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA

197480, AUG 16-17 $250

197549, AUG 16-17 $250

PUBLIC NOTICE --ReNEW-Reinventing Edu‐ cation will introduce the 2026-27 budget and hold its ﬁrst public hearing on the 2026-27 budget on May 14, 2026 at 5:30 pm at Edgar P Harney Build‐ ing located at 2503 Wil‐ low St., New Orleans, LA 70113 (LA R.S. 39:1307). ReNEW-Reinventing Edu‐ cation is the charter school management or‐ ganization operating ReNEW Laurel Elemen‐ tary, ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Elementary, ReNEW Schaumburg Ele‐ mentary, and ReNEW Moton Lakefront Elemen‐ tary. A physical copy of the 2026-2027 budget is available at 10001 Lake Forest Blvd., Suite 710, New Orleans, LA 70127.

DOGS AKC Standard Poodles. Black & Parti black & white. Ready to Go. Utd on all shots & worming. Text 228-669-8581 or 228-669-2377.

Garage Sales METAIRIE 6301 Ruth Street. This Weekend! Saturday & Sunday 8am-3pm. Household, clothing, furniture, kitchen, memorabilia.

Automotive CLASSIC CARS Looking to Buy an Old Foreign Project Car. Any condition, running or Not. Porsche, Jaguar, Mercedes, Maserati, Ferrari and much more. Fast and Easy transaction. Cash on the Spot. If you have any of these or any other old for‐ eign cars, please call 571-259-9656

Recreational Vehicles CAMPER-CAMP EQUIP Woody - Teardrop, fair condition $2500 or best offer 504-677-6381

CATS RAGAMUFFIN & RAGDOLL KITTENS www.CatsByFrancy.com/kittens $1500up! Reg. Shots & Guaranty 337-230-3150

Public Notices Sex Offenders

My Address is: 3522 LEONIDAS ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70118

I, DARRELL JOSEPH YOUNG JR, have been convicted of 14:283 Video Voyeurism. Date Convicted: 01/23/2013. My Address is: 7120 GENTRY RD MARRERO, LA 70072

I, ALVIN JAMES CARRIERE JR, have been convicted of 14:27:42.1 - Attempted Forcible Rape (attempted). Date Convicted: 11/29/2010. My Address is: 7562 FORUM BLVD NEW ORLEANS, LA 70128 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 6/9/1979 Height: 5'10" Weight: 207 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: LOUISIANA 197648, AUG 16-17 $250

I, BUFORD CLAY CARROLL JR AKA BUFFORD CLAY CARROLL JR AKA Buffored Carroll JR AKA JUNIOR, have been convicted of 11990002 22.011(a)(2) PC - Sexual Assault Child. Date Convicted: 03/09/2004. State Equivalent: 14:43 - Simple Rape. My Address is: 2441 ILLINOIS AVE KENNER, LA 70062 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/28/1960 Height: 5'7" Weight: 210 Hair Color: GRAY Eye Color: BLUE Scars/Tattoos:

I, CHRISTOPHER MUNIZ, have been convicted of 14:80 Carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Date Convicted: 06/13/2019. My Address is: 2208 Breckenridge Dr Harvey, LA 70058 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 11/21/2000 Height: 5'9" Weight: 121 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 10/23/1987 Height: 5'9" Weight: 150 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

I, DAVID FRANCIS PHAM, have been convicted of 14:283 Video Voyeurism. Date Convicted: 10/16/2023.

197485, AUG 16-17 $250

My Address is: 218 W ROBERT E LEE BLVD NEW ORLEANS, LA 70124

I, BRIAN ANTHONY GORUM, have been convicted of 14:43.1 Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 03/28/2024. 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 03/28/2024. My Address is: 1242 ST ANTHONY ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70116 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 9/19/1967 Height: 5'7" Weight: 195 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: LOUISIANA 197663, AUG 16-17 $250

I, Chad Everette Sylvest aka CHAD EVERETTE SYLVEST, have been convicted of 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 11/09/2015. My Address is: 7609 4TH ST 6 MARRERO, LA 70072 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 9/17/1984 Height: 6'1" Weight: RED290 Hair Color: RED Eye Color: BLUE Scars/Tattoos:

I, CLAUDE JONES JR AKA CJ JONES JONES AKA CJ JONES AKA HASHIM JONES, have been convicted of 14:43 - Simple Rape. Date Convicted: 12/04/1986. 15:542 - Failure to Register/Notify as a Sex Offender. Date Convicted: 05/24/2010.

Race: ASIAN OR PAC. ISL. Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 4/28/1976 Height: 5'7" Weight: 175 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

I, HOWARD JORDON AKA HAROLD WEST, have been convicted of 14:43.1 - Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 03/17/1988. 14:43.1 - Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 12/19/1997. I, Fredrick Allen Bowers AKA FREDERICK BOWERS AKA FREDERICK A BOWERS AKA FREDRICK BOWERS AKA FREDRICK A BOWERS AKA FREDDIE AKA FREDDY, have been convicted of 14:81.1 Pornography Involving Juveniles. Date Convicted: 01/25/2023. My Address is: 211 APOLLO ST TERRYTOWN, LA 70056

197488, AUG 16-17 $250

LOUISIANA 197493, AUG 16-17 $250

186911-may 9-aug 27 $956

LOUISIANA 197663, AUG 16-17 $250

I, Jason Robert LandrY AKA JASON LANRY, have been convicted of 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 10/05/2016. 14:81.1 - Pornography Involving Juveniles. Date Convicted: 09/05/2018. 15:542 Failure to Register/Notify as a Sex Offender. Date Convicted: 09/05/2018.

I, Gerald Taylor, have been convicted of 14:42 - Aggravated Rape (attempted). I, FRANKLIN JEFFERSON aka PEANUTE JEFFERSON, have been convicted of 11990002 22.011(a)(2) PC - Sexual Assault Child. TEXAS. Date Convicted:

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/1/1956 Height: 5'10" Weight: 180 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA

My Address is: 3710 Toledano St New Orleans, LA 70125

197657, AUG 16-17 $250

My Address is: 5236 CHARTRES ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70117

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/29/1998 Height: 6'1 Weight: 260 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: BLUE Scars/Tattoos:

197620, AUG 16-17 $250

LOUISIANA

197616, AUG 16-17 $250

LOUISIANA

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 06/11/1968 Height: 5'9" Weight: 170 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: HAZEL Scars/Tattoos:

Height: 6' Weight: 150 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

TEXAS

197550, AUG 16-17 $250

197502, AUG 16-17 $250

Public Notices Sex Offenders

197660, AUG 16-17 $250

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 4/22/1978 Height: 5'9" Weight: 198 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA

TEXAS

Public Notices Sex Offenders

07/18/2007. State Equivalent: 14:43 Simple Rape.

197496, AUG 16-17 $250

196541-aug 16-1t $8.05

Public Notices Meet/Hear/Min

CATS Young Male Cat, Gray Colors, Have too many cats, Looking for another home for him. Please call 504-861-9617 ($50)

CEMETERY PLOT 1 For Sale. Restlawn Cemetery (Avondale, LA). $3800. Call 504-4583168.

Notice to be posted: Community Leaders Ad‐ vocating Student Suc‐ cess Inc./ Fannie C. Williams Charter School Budget Meeting will be held on Thursday August 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in the school Library, Ad‐ dress: 11755 Dwyer Road New Orleans, LA 70128. Also, you can attend via the zoom link below. The 2026-27 Budget will be approved at the meeting. The Budget is available for viewing in the Busi‐ ness Ofﬁce Monday- Fri‐ day 9a.m. to 3p.m. or you can contact the ofﬁce at 504-373-6228 Ext 7.

DECANTERS Liquor Decanter Collection for sale 275pcs 1966 & Above! Interested Call Mr. Szabo 504-352-8412

Merchandise

LOUISIANA

PUBLIC NOTICE ---

COOK Chinese Specialty food cook

Pets

196694-aug 16-1t $512.85

My Address is: 8905 Edinburgh st NEW ORLEANS, LA 70118 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 12/22/1962

My Address is: 621 N STARRETT RD METAIRIE, LA 70003 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/07/1994 Height: 5'11" Weight: 300 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: BROWN

Public Notices Sex Offenders

I, BRIAN KEITH STICKEL AKA BRIAN STICKEL AKA BRIAN K STICKEL AKA BRIAN STICLER AKA , have been convicted of 14:81 Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 04/20/2015.

or contact Class Counsel:

BY ORDER OF THE CIVIL DISTRICT COURT

To apply, visit the school district website athttps://www.sbpsb.org EOE

Weight: 185 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: GREEN Scars/Tattoos:

www.BagnerisLawFirm. com/KennedyClassAct ion

DO NOT CONTACT THE COURT OR THE CLERK OF COURT REGARDING THIS CASE OR THIS NOTICE.

Certified positions - ALL levels and Areas Including: * Physical Therapists * Occupational Therapists * Speech Therapists * Interpreters * School Counselors * Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN's) * Support positions - ALL

BY ORDER OF THE CIVIL DISTRICT COURT FOR THE PARISH OF ORLEANS, STATE OF LOUISIANA.

To obtain the complete Court-approved Notice, the Request for Exclusion (Opt-Out Form), impor‐ tant court documents, and answers to fre‐ quently asked questions, visit:

The Bagneris Firm, LLC 1929 Jackson Avenue New Orleans, Louisiana 70113 Telephone: (504) 810-3995 Email: sbagneris@bagnerislaw ﬁrm.com

EDUCATION The St Bernard Parish School Board has immediate openings for the following positions:

I, Adam Corb, have been convicted of 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 06/03/2014. My Address is: 151 WOODLAWN AVE HARAHAN, LA 70123 Race: WHIE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 5/8/1985 Height: 5'10"

My Address is: 2341 CADDY DR MARRERO, LA 70072 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 1/13/1964 Height: 5'9" Weight: 160 Hair Color: GRAY Eye Color: HAZEL

I, CHARLES LEE DOBBINS III, have been convicted of 14:80 Carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Date Convicted: 06/24/2015. My Address is: 1257 LOCHLOMAND DR HARVEY, LA 70058 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 11/9/1992 Height: 6'3" Weight: 317 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN

I, CURTIS JACKSON AKA CFURTIS JACKSON, have been convicted of 14:42.1 - Forcible Rape. Date Convicted: 11/30/1989. My Address is: 820 WIEGAND DR BRIDGE CITY, LA 70094 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 10/20/1959 Height: 6' Weight: 195 Hair Color: BALD Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: LOUISIANA 197548, AUG 16-17 $250

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Public Notices Sex Offenders

Scars/Tattoos:

Public Notices Sex Offenders

Weight: 130 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA 197503, AUG 16-17 $250

Height: 5'7" Weight: 135 Hair Color: BLONDE Eye Color: BLUE Scars/Tattoos:

NONE GIVEN

LOUISIANA

197668, AUG 16-17 $250

197559, AUG 16-17 $250

Public Notices Sex Offenders

I, KEITH A HARRISON AKA JOCK HARRISON AKA KETITH HARRISON AKA KEITH HARRISON JR AKA KEITH A HARRISON AKA KEITH A HARRISON SR AKA KIETH A HARRISON AKA PETEY HARRISON, have been convicted of 14:81.2 - Molestation of Juvenile Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 01/09/2017. 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 01/09/2017.

MISSISSIPPI 197565, AUG 16-17 $250

My Address is: 4116 GENERAL OGDEN ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70118

My Address is: 944 HOOTER RD BRIDGE CITY, LA 70094 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 8/25/11978 Height: 5'6" Weight: 213 Hair Color: BALD Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

My Address is: 340 SADDLER RD LOT 41 MARRERO, LA 70072 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 6/9/1967 Height: 5'6" Weight: 140 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: GREEN Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA 197484, AUG 16-17 $250

My Address is: 4725 HAUCK DR NEW ORLEANS, LA 70127

LOUISIANA

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 4/5/1963 Height: 5'1" Weight: 115 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

197497, AUG 16-17 $250

I, JONQUIL P OTIS AKA JONQUIL OTIS AKA JONQUIL P OTIS, have been convicted of 14:80 - Carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Date Convicted: 03/09/2021. Details: FELONY CARNAL KNOWLEDGE OF A JUVENILE. 14:46.2(B)(3) - Human Trafﬁcking. Date Convicted: 03/09/2021.

LOUISIANA 197659, AUG 16-17 $250

I, Keegan MATTHEW McGuire aka KEEGAN M MCGUIRE, have been convicted of 14:80 - Carnal knowledge of a juvenile Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 01/13/2014.

My Address is: 3628 FRENCHMEN ST A NEW ORLEANS, LA 70122

I, Kevin William Batey, have been convicted of 14:45 - Simple Kidnapping (attempted). Date Convicted: 01/22/2010. My Address is: 3832 FOURTH ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70125 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 5/27/1963 Height: 5'10" Weight: 175 Hair Color: GRAY Eye Color: HAZEL Scars/Tattoos:

I, Kevin Julian LeJeune AKA KEVIN LEJEUNE AKA KEVIN J LEJEUNE, have been convicted of 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 06/17/1993. 14:81 - Indecent Behavior with Juveniles. Date Convicted: 08/20/1998.

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 2/11/1969 Height: 5'11" Weight: 200 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

197563, AUG 16-17 $250

NEWS 24/7

LOUISIANA 1967499, AUG 16-17 $250

I, Kenneth J Kalinowski, have been

I, Samuel Anthony Olsen Jr. AKA Sam, have been convicted of 14:81.1 - Pornography Involving Juveniles (attempted). Date Convicted: 07/12/2012. My Address is: 2304 DANNY PARK METAIRIE, LA 70001 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/20/1991 Height: 5'11" Weight: 210 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos: LOUISIANA 197489, AUG 16-17 $250

Public Notices Sex Offenders

Scars/Tattoos:

NONE GIVEN

LOUISIANA

197652, AUG 16-17 $250

197665, AUG 16/17 $250

I, TREVELLE OMAR ROUNDTREE, have been convicted of 14:45 - Simple Kidnapping (attempted). Date Convicted: 12/02/1998. Details: JUVENILE VICTIM. My Address is: 14576 BEEKMAN RD NEW ORLEANS, LA 70128 Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 4/10/1980 Height: 6'2" Weight: 225 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 7/25/1963 Height: 6'3" Weight: 205 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

197625, AUG 16-17 $250 I, MICHAEL JOSEPH POLIT AKA MIKE POLIT, have been convicted of 14:78.1 - Aggravated Incest. Date Convicted: 03/19/1997. 14:43.3 Oral Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 03/19/1997. 14:43.1 Sexual Battery. Date Convicted: 03/19/1997. My Address is: 2511 BAYOU RD BACK HOUSE HARVEY, LA 70058 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 8/7/1956 Height: 5'9" Weight: 217 Hair Color: GRAY Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

197504, AUG 16-17 $250

I, William Holden Sr AKA RED, have been convicted of 11990004 22.021(a)(2)(b) PC Agg Sexual Assault Child Sexual Motivation. TEXAS. Date Convicted: 09/25/1998. State Equivalent: 14:42 Aggravated Rape. 14:43 - Simple Rape Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 07/01/1979. . My Address is: 1720 PORT ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70117

LOUISIANA

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 1/16/1991

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 3/25/1961 Height: 5'10" Weight: 217 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

197567, AUG 16-17 $250

My Address is: 2635 VERBENA ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70122

I, Robert CAREY Hagans JR AKA ROBERT C HAGAN AKA CAREY HANGS AKA ROBERT HAGANS AKA ROBERT CAREY HANGANS AKA ROBERT K HAGANS JR AKA ROBERT HOGANS, have been convicted of 14:80 - Carnal knowledge of a juvenile. Date Convicted: 01/29/1998. 14:42.1 - Forcible Rape. Date Convicted: 04/09/1991. My Address is: 3531 BURNS ST 4 JEFFERSON, LA 70121

LOUISIANA

My Address is: 9500 ALHAMBRA CT RIVER RIDGE, LA 70123

Race: BLACK Sex: FEMALE Date of Birth: 10/21/1991 Height: 5'5"

197623, AUG 16-17 $250

Public Notices Sex Offenders

Eye Color: BROWN Scars/Tattoos:

LOUISIANA I, JOSEPH BUD FREE AKA JOE FREE, have been convicted of 14:43.4 - Aggravated Oral Sexual Battery Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 07/10/2003.

Public Notices Sex Offenders

convicted of 14:42.1 Forcible Rape . Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 11/15/2022. 14:42.1 - Forcible Rape Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 11/15/2022.

Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 9/12/1963 Height: 6'1" Weight: 200 Hair Color: BROWN Eye Color: HAZEL Scars/Tattoos:

I, John Coleman AKA KENT A COLEMAN, have been convicted of 14:283 - Video Voyeurism. Date Convicted: 12/13/2021.

Public Notices Sex Offenders

TEXAS AND LOUISIANA 197649, AUG 16-17 $250

I, ROBERT W DEYARMETT AKA ROBERT DEYARMETT, have been convicted of 97-5-23 - Touching, Handling, Fondling for Lustful Purposes. MISSISSIPPI. Date Convicted: 08/12/2012. My Address is: 7124 GLENDALE ST METAIRIE, LA 70003 Race: WHITE Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 4/4/1972 Height: 6' Weight: 145 Hair Color: BROWN

I, Torrey L Davis AKA QUICK DAVIS, have been convicted of 18 USC 2423(A) Transportation with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity Sexual Motivation. Date Convicted: 04/13/2016.

I, WESLEY MICHAEL HOLLINGSWORTH, have been convicted of 14:283 - Video Voyeurism. Date Convicted: 06/17/2025.

My Address is: 4202 S ROMAN ST NEW ORLEANS, LA 70125

My Address is: 6930 THOR CT NEW ORLEANS, LA 70126

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 10/2/1971 Height: 5'3" Weight: 155 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN

NEWS

24/7

Race: BLACK Sex: MALE Date of Birth: 2/9/1988 Height: 5'10" Weight: 250 Hair Color: BLACK Eye Color: BROWN

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When the Power Goes Out,

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easy application 18 MONTHS 0.00%

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What the research says about erythritol PAGE 3

DISCOVERy | INNOVATION | LIVING WELL

HEALTH

LOUISIANA

N O L A.C O M & T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M

S U N D AY, AU g U S t 16, 2026

Molly Kimball 1 1N

STAFF PHOTO By ENAN CHEDIAK

Angela Laisure, left, administers chemotherapy to Victoria Autin in July at the University Medical Center in New Orleans.

‘LIKE A GIFT FROM GOD’ As Louisiana seeks bigger role in cancer drug trials, a patient discusses her treatment

BY MARGARET DELANEY

Staff writer

Victoria Autin started college, determined to become a veterinarian. “I loved horses,” she said. In her second year at school, away from home, Autin’s gynecologist found a cyst on her ovary and recommended surgery to remove it. “That’s how it started,” she said. “Before then I just rode horses. I rode four-wheelers. I did pretty much what any 19-year-old would be doing, not expecting a bombshell to be dropped in

my lap.” Her surgery went well, and the recovery was not terrible, Autin said. But she’ll never forget Dec. 2, 2019, when she walked into her gynecologist’s ofﬁce with her grandmother, and he told her she had cancer. “I guess you could say I just went numb,” she said. “I think a part of me, I feel, was left in that room that day.” Autin has a juvenile granulosa cell tumor, a rare gynecologic cancer in the hormone-producing connective tissues of the ovaries. “The granular cell tumors and juve-

nile granular cell tumors tend to happen in younger patients than more common ovarian cancer,” said Dr. Amelia Jernigan, a gynecologic oncologist at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Between initial oncology appointments, Autin, the oldest of seven children, found out she was five weeks pregnant with her ﬁrst child. She chose to hold out on chemotherapy and radiation until it was safe. In the next five years, Autin, who lives in Amite, traveled multiple times a week for lab work and chemotherapy.

She lost all of her curly chestnut hair ﬁve separate times. She gave birth to two children. She had four surgeries to remove tumors that had grown back and, eventually, a complete hysterectomy. The cancer would always leave. But it would always come back. “I appeared strong, but I was broken,” Autin said. In 2025, Autin and her family started shopping for better options. They went to Little Rock and Shreveport and

ä See TRIALS, page 2X

At BR hospital, magnets step in for stitches and staples BY MARGARET DELANEY Staff writer

First doctors sewed organs together. Then, they stapled. Now, they’re using magnets. In April, surgeons at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge performed the hospital’s first magnetic small bowel resection and connection, or anastomosis, in a patient. Since then, the hospital has performed 10 surgeries using the new technology. An anastomosis is commonly performed in gastrointestinal surgery when surgeons need to reconnect sections of the digestive tract. “We were one of the ﬁrst ﬁve in-

stitutions in the country to access it,” said Dr. Mark Hausmann, a bariatric surgeon at Our Lady of the Lake hospital in Baton Rouge. There’s been discussion about connecting organs using magnets over the years in the surgical community, according to Hausmann Hausmann, but the tech has been awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The magnets are more consistent than sewing or suturing or stapling and require less time under

anesthesia. “This may be the next step for more consistency, less scarring, less bleeding and more consistent healing,” Hausmann said. “There are fewer variables here.” The octagon-shaped magnets were developed by GI Windows Surgical, a medical device company. In the minimally invasive robotic surgery, an incision is made through the tissue of the bowel. Then, the robotic tool shoots out the otolock, or magnet-holder, in the inside of the bowel. The surgeon then pulls the otolock tight

STAFF PHOTO By JOHN BALLANCE

GI Windows’ magnetic anastomosis platform is an innovative surgical technology that uses magnets to create anastomosis, or surgical ä See MAGNETS, page 3X connection between two parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

1 0,0 0

Transplants performed

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HEALTH MAKER Parents seek pediatric sleep advice from N.O. expert Contributing writer

BY MATT HAINES

Q&A WITH DR. NILONG VyAS

Dr. Nilong Vyas is a pediatric sleep consultant in Gretna who has patients in Louisiana and around the world. She received her medical degree from LSU, a master’s of public health from Tulane University, and completed her pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital in New Orleans before beginning work as a general pediatrician at Lake Vista Pediatrics. In 2014, after seeing how central good sleep was to nearly all of the challenges her patients and their families faced, Vyas began her own pediatric sleep practice: Sleepless in NOLA. She was named a Women in White Coats Hero of the Year as well as Top Sleep Consultant in the U.S. and has worked with countless families and individuals — including celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Mahershala Ali — to help improve the sleep habits of their children. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. How did you get into the field of pediatric sleep consulting? It started while I was working at Lake Vista Pediatrics. Over the last two decades, our society is becoming much more aware of the importance of sleep. That’s partly because of all the talk about sleep on the news and in social media, for example, but also because of the popularity of wearables that allow individuals to track their sleep. I noticed an increasing number of families coming in to discuss their children’s sleep issues. But doctors are so overburdened. When you get 15 minutes to discuss the entirety of a child’s health, it simply isn’t

and healthy metabolism. If a child is hyperactive, they’re probably not a bad kid — they’re just not getting enough sleep. If a child is obese, a lack of sleep may also play a role. It affects everything. I tell parents that it’s not like their child will never learn to read and write if they don’t sleep well. But they probably won’t reach their full potential. Yikes. So then what are the common pitfalls that get in the way of children getting good sleep? For infants, pitfalls can include inconsistent sleep windows, leading to overtiredness that creates a barrier to good sleep. Another issue is what we call “sleep onset associations,” meaning the baby is unable to sleep without a certain action or behavior. For example, if a mother always feeds their child when it’s time to go to sleep — maybe because the baby is crying — then the child will associate nursing with sleep. This can lead to sleep problems and overfeeding. Toddlers can also suffer from sleep onset associations, which might include thinking they can only fall asleep if they’re in the same room or bed with one or both parents. This is also an age where we see bedtime resistance and stalling — I call it “shenanigans” — where children ask for one more hug, or one more book, or one more sip of water or potty before bed. They might expose inconsistency between caregivers and this can all lead to an inconsistent bedtime and inconsistent sleep. For school-age children, too much screen time or caffeine before bed can cause

Dr. Nilong Vyas, right, helps improve the sleep habits of children. enough time to deal with complicated problems like sleep. The quick advice we would give was what we were taught at the time: let the child cry it out. For a newer generation of parents, “cry it out,” felt a little harsh. And, as I raised kids of my own, I felt similarly. I thought there had to be a different way, and that’s when I began to develop my own methodology, which linked childhood sleep to nutrition, the behavior of parents, and the behavior of the child. I started Sleepless in NOLA more than 12 years ago, and these are factors I address with the families I work with. Can you tell us a little more this shift from “cry it out?” Over the course of generations, society has shifted from households that involved extended families caring for children together,

toward the nuclear families of modern life. Increasingly, that involved both parents working. With less time, busy and tired parents were taught to put their kid in the crib, close the door, and let them cry until they ﬁgured it out and eventually fell asleep. In the last 15 years, however, parents are armed with more information. They want an approach that gets to the root of their child’s sleep issues while matching their values as parents. That can still involve “cry it out,” but it usually involves something gentler. What I have learned over the years is that kids have the ability to get great sleep. We as parents, however, do things to interrupt that because the knowledge isn’t there. My goal is to increase that knowledge and work

PROVIDED PHOTO

with parents to understand what habits we need to alter to allow our children to get the sleep they need. Which brings us to an important question: Why is sleep so important for children? Famous British neuroscientist Dr. Matthew Walker said, “Sleep is the greatest legal performance-enhancing ‘drug’ that most people are probably neglecting.” And it’s true. For infants, sleep is when development happens. It’s crucial, and newborns should be sleeping up to 17 hours each day. During deep sleep, speciﬁcally, is when growth hormones are secreted, which leads to actual physical growth and immunity strengthening. For toddlers and for older children, sleep drives a host of important functions: memory consolidation and learning, mood, memory,

a problem. So can “social jet lag.” One example of this is when parents let their children sleep late on the weekend. If the child wakes up at noon, they will also stay up later, likely resulting in too little sleep on Sunday night and creating a sleep deficit on Monday and throughout the week. Too often I find that parents succumb to children who resist naps or bedtimes. They throw up their hands and say, “Maybe my kid doesn’t need that much sleep.” But they do, for the sake of their development. It’s important that the adult sets those boundaries for them. How do you work to solve these challenges? People like to toss around the word “guru” when talking about sleep, and I think that comes from these Instagram sleep coaches who found some success with a solution that worked for their specific child. But there is no guarantee that a so-called “magic bullet” will work for your child. I consider myself a pediatric behavioral sleep expert because I work with parents to seek out behavioral modifications that they can implement for their child. It’s more of a partnership between us than a one-sized approach or secret. After a consultation, we look at the child’s sleep schedule, their sleeping environment, and the family’s belief systems and goals around sleep. Sometimes you just need someone in your corner to help you find and enact the right behavioral modifications for your family. To me, that’s what a good pediatric behavioral sleep expert can be.

TRIALS

Continued from page 1X ﬁnally New Orleans. Jernigan introduced her to a new clinical trial using targeted chemotherapies. “Meeting her was like a gift from God,” Autin said about Jernigan. “If I had to choose it all over again, I’d go back to her each time.”

Finding the glitter and glue Autin was introduced to a clinical trial, the first use of potential drugs on human patients, at University Medical Center in New Orleans. Every 21 days, she packs a bag and travels to the hospital for treatment that uses antibody drug conjugates, a new class of chemotherapy drugs. The formulas can identify specific receptors, or beacons, expressed by cancerous tissues in the body. Once the drug finds those receptors, the chemotherapy can isolate cancerous cells and begin to attack them. “It’s like putting glitter on glue,” Jernigan said. “The [chemotherapy] actually sticks to the tumor to deliver these hefty doses of chemotherapy right to the tumor. We can get really therapeutic doses at the tumor level without it being as toxic to the person as a whole.” So far, the treatment has worked for some of Jernigan’s endometrial cancer patients. “It worked really nicely in the GYN malignancies,” she said. “In my world, antibody drug conjugates are what immunotherapies were five years ago.” Dr. Shou-Ching Tang leads the charge for Phase 1 clinical trials at LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center, building out early drug developments in Louisiana. “Phase 1 is the bottleneck of all drug development,” he said. “Most importantly, it enables us to bring drugs to our patients in need of drugs that are never marketed. It’s before FDA approval.” For Autin, the clinical trial

STAFF PHOTOS By ENAN CHEDIAK

Shelinda Brown, right, performs an electrocardiogram on Victoria Autin in July during cancer treatment at the University Medical Center in New Orleans. has been tough, but effective. Her tumor is notoriously resistant to any standard care, Tang said. “Fortunately, her tumor responded,” Tang said. Her tumor not only responded, but responded so well that she has taken 16 cycles of the new chemotherapy since September. Autin’s tumor shrank after two cycles of chemotherapy by more than 60%. “It’s a testament to how well this type of drug could work,” Tang said. The day after her first treatment in the clinical trial, Autin was out riding horses. “I felt OK,” she said. But, between her third and fifth sessions, symptoms started to hit her harder. She experienced morning sickness from morning until 3 p.m., then she was back to herself until 10 p.m. Mouth sores started popping up. By the time the symptoms go away, it’s already time to

pack her bags for her next session. In current chemotherapy treatments, it’s expected to experience hair loss, numbness and tingling, nausea and vomiting, anemia, low platelets, low white counts and, sometimes, admissions to the hospital. “This is all the side effects of the poison,” Jernigan said. Autin expects to be on the drug until the cancer’s gone.

Building a cancer hub Phase 1 clinical trials are just one element in expanding the cancer care for Louisianans. In July 2022, Louisiana leaders announced their intentions to become a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, joining 74 other centers in 36 states given that designation by the National Institutes of Health. An NCI designation has several criteria: laboratory research in several fields; transferring research into

clinical practice; innovative clinical trials in the community; outreach to residents; education of health professionals and showing improvement in specific, measurable areas, such as lowering smoking rates or increasing lung cancer screenings. Over 30,000 Louisianans are diagnosed with cancer each year. The goal of the NCI designation is to bring cancer care closer to those who need it, said Dr. Lucio Miele, the director of the LSU-LCMC Health Cancer Center. “The patients here are not going to move to Boston to be studied,” Miele said. “This is a competition. There are other institution applying. But we’re Louisiana, and we’re going for it.” To become a national institute, LSU-LCMC needs to prove that they have the infrastructure and funding to last. Because of LSU’s statewide footprint, they have taken the lead for the state.

Victoria Autin shows off a photograph of herself, Fred Soileau and two of their children Daesyn, 6, and Rayleigh Soileau, 3. In the initial application, only LSU-LCMC’s facilities will be measured for NCI designation. “The NCI needs a ‘winwin’ situation,” Miele said. “They can’t take over infrastructure.” The application process itself takes years and thousands of pages of documented progress in all levels of cancer care, Miele said. The team at LSU-LCMC has already begun collecting their accomplishments, but will begin writing a formal application in 2029. It’s common for clinicians to hover in the Phase 2 to Phase 3 arena when it comes to studying new drugs and medicines for treatment. Expanding the Phase 1 trials, however, is what sets institutions apart nationally. “No one’s going to hand it to us,” Miele said. “If we can handle one of these, it’s a sign that we can handle complicated clinical trials as well.”

Clinical trials beneﬁt more than just science. Patients who enroll in clinical trials often do better than those who do not, even if they receive a placebo treatment. “That’s probably because of all the eyes on your chart and the extra care you get on a trial,” Jernigan said. Autin has fought cancer for over six years. And she doesn’t plan to stop. “My whole life, I had everything planned. I knew what I wanted out of life. Being told those three words, ‘You have cancer’ changed everything,” she said. “Going through another option that could possibly save many other people’s lives. I thought, ‘Why not?’ I have two beautiful babies that need me here, and if this is the medicine that saves my life, then I would choose to do it all over again.” Email Margaret DeLaney at margaret.delaney @theadvocate.com.

The Times-Picayune ✦ nola.com ✦ Sunday, August 16, 2026 ✦ 3X

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Eat Fit Live Fit B R O U G H T TO YO U BY

Molly Kimball RD, CSSD

Erythritol: what the research really says

he evidence linking excess added sugar to negative health effects is extensive, spanning far beyond weight and blood sugar. A consistently high intake is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, anxiety and certain cancers. For many people, reducing added sugar may be one of the most impactful changes they can make for their long-term health. But that raises an obvious question: What should we use instead? Aside from providing sweetness, sugar contributes moisture, browning, caramelization and texture – especially important in baked goods. Stevia and monk fruit can work well in coffee, tea, yogurt and smoothies. But because they are intensely sweet, they do not work well as the sole sugar replacement in baking. Erythritol helps fill that gap. It provides bulk and structure with little to no effect on blood sugar, making it useful in baking and lower-sugar products. You will find it in many “zerosugar” foods, beverages and sweetener blends such as Truvia, Swerve and Lakanto, as well as in recipes and products featured in this column. But some readers have asked about headlines linking erythritol to heart attacks and strokes.

What Does the Research Show and How Concerned Should We Be?

people are routinely advised to reduce added sugar, lose weight and improve metabolic health. Yet they are also warned about alternative sweeteners, leaving many with conﬂicting messages and no practical path forward. For now, the evidence linking excess added sugar to adverse health outcomes is far more robust than the evidence raising concerns about erythritol. That does not mean erythritol is risk-free. It means we are still learning.

less attention. Many blood samples used in the study were collected between 2001 and 2007, before erythritolcontaining products and baking blends even existed.

Why Does That Matter?

Because erythritol is not only something we consume. Our bodies also produce it naturally. In fact, one of the most surprising aspects of the 2023 research, at least for me, was learning that our bodies make erythritol on their own. Researchers acknowledged that many of the elevated blood levels observed in those earlier samples likely reﬂected erythritol produced within the body rather than consumed through food. In other words, the study found an association between higher blood levels and cardiovascular risk, but it did not show that consuming erythritol caused heart attacks or strokes. Since then, several other studies have shown that erythritol may increase platelet activity and clotting potential under certain conditions. Those ﬁndings

The question stems largely from a widely publicized 2023 study in Nature Medicine. Researchers found that people with higher blood levels of erythritol were more likely to experience heart attacks, strokes and other major cardiovascular events. The headlines understandably raised alarm. But one important detail received

So, Should You Use Erythritol?

deserve further study. At the same time, we have decades of evidence showing that excess added sugar contributes to many of the health conditions we are trying to prevent. Preventive cardiologist Dr. Carl “Chip” Lavie is the medical director of cardiac rehabilitation and preventive cardiology at Ochsner Health. He noted that erythritol is not a topic he follows closely and is not a major focus among fellow cardiologists. He emphasized, however, that “the harms of added sugars are very high.” That perspective highlights the challenge consumers face. As Joanne Slavin, PhD, RD, professor of food science and nutrition at the University of Minnesota, points out,

Molly Kimball, RD, CSSD, is a registered dietitian with Ochsner Health and founder of Ochsner’s Eat Fit nonproﬁt initiative. For more wellness content, tune in to Molly’s podcast, FUELED Wellness + Nutrition, and follow @MollykimballRD and @EatFitOchsner on social media. Email nutrition@ochsner.org to connect with Molly or schedule a consult with her team.

Those with a history of stroke, cardiovascular disease or clotting disorders, as well as those taking medications that affect clotting, should discuss signiﬁcant dietary changes with their healthcare provider. For most people, erythritol remains one of several tools that may help reduce added sugar intake while researchers continue to study its long-term effects.

The Bigger Goal: Resetting Your Sweet Tooth

I don’t think the ultimate goal is ﬁnding the perfect sugar replacer. A better long-term strategy is gradually retraining our taste buds to expect – and crave – less sweetness. Start small. Reduce the sugar in coffee, tea or other beverages by 25%. Once that feels normal, reduce it further. The same approach works in baking. Our taste buds can adapt. Foods that once tasted only mildly sweet begin to taste plenty sweet, and the craving for intensely sweet foods can start to fade. That’s the direction I continue to encourage, not because any one sweetener is perfect, but because learning to enjoy less sugary sweetness overall may offer the greatest beneﬁt.

BY THE NUMBERS

TWIN BIRTH RATES DOWN IN U.S., BUT LA. SEES RISE TWIN BIRTHS

Although Louisiana saw an uptick in the last year, the state is still on a decline overall since 2014: 38

Louisiana twin birth rate

U.S. twin birth rate

36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28

’14 ’15 ’16 ’17

’18 ’19 ’20 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24

Source: National Center of Health Statistics via March of Dimes

The twin birth rate, or twin births per 1,000 total births, rose nearly 80% from 1980 to 2014, then began a steady decline into the last decade. In Louisiana, however, the twin birth rate declined overall in the last 10 years, but jumped from 2023 to 2024, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Trends in twin childbearing are collected by the National Center of Health Statistics and the CDC as a public health interest for increased maternal and neonatal risks compared to single pregnancies. In the U.S., the twin birth rate declined an average 1% per year from 2014 to 2024, from 33.9 twins per 1,000 births to 30.1 twins per 1,000 births. In 2024, 109,195 babies

Staff graphic

were born as twins in the U.S. Louisiana’s twin birth rate, however, fluctuated greatly over the last decade with: n 35.6 twin deliveries per 1,000 live births in 2014; n 33.2 in 2015; n 34.1 in 2016; n 34.4 in 2017; n 34 in 2018; n 32 in 2019; n 33.2 in 2020; n 33.9 in 2021; n 32.4 in 2022; n 31.7 in 2023; n 34.8 in 2024. One frequent explanation pinpointed by research is the improvement in IVF techniques and policies that encourage single-embryo transfers. Michigan and Mississippi have the highest twin birth rates. And as of 2024, mothers between the ages of 45 to 54 had the highest twin birth rates in the United States.

STAFF PHOTOS By JOHN BALLANCE

ABOVE: Dr. Mark Hausmann talks about the GI Windows magnetic anastomosis platform. BELOW: Hausmann shows off the device.

MAGNETS

resections. “Indications are going to Continued from page 1X expand,” Hausmann said. “I think over time it will be able to connect stomach to against the exposed lin- bowel tissues. We’re curing of the small bowel and rently only using it for gasattaches the eight-sided tric bypasses with small magnet. bowel anastomosis.” They repeat the process on another section of the Email Margaret DeLaney small bowel, then connect at margaret.delaney the two parts with the @theadvocate.com. magnets. Over time, between 10 days and two weeks, scar WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU tissue will grow around the organs and heal the small bowel. Once the The Louisiana Health section is Health editions will also profile scar tissue has formed, focused on providing in-depth, people who are advancing health for the magnets have nothpersonal accounts of health in the the state of Louisiana. ing left to attach to and will fall away into the state. This section looks at medical Do you have a health story? We small bowel to be passed innovations, health discoveries, state want to hear from you. through. Currently, the FDA has and national health statistics and re- Email margaret.delaney@ only approved the use of examining tried and true methods on theadvocate.com to submit health the magnets to connect ways to live well. questions, stories and more. parts of the small bowel, most commonly in bowel

4X ✦ Sunday,August 16, 2026 ✦ nola.com ✦ The Times-Picayune

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1 0,0 0

Transplants performed

A transplant can change everything. It can mean more birthdays, more family dinners and more time doing what you love. Today, we celebrate a remarkable milestone: 10,000 transplants performed at the Ochsner Transplant Institute. For more than 40 years, our team has helped give patients a second chance at life through expert care, advanced treatments and unwavering support. As the most experienced transplant center in Louisiana and the Gulf South, we are proud of every life touched by this achievement. This milestone belongs to the patients, families, organ donors and care teams who made it possible. Together, we've changed thousands of lives—and we're just getting started. Learn more at ochsner.org/transplant.

SUNDAY, AUgUSt 16, 2026

CURTIS / by Ray Billingsley

SLYLOCK FOX / by Bob Weber Jr.

GET FUZZY / by Darby Conley

HAGAR THE HORRIBLE / by Chris Browne

ROSEBUDS / by Supr Dee

MOTHER GOOSE AND GRIMM / by Mike Peters

ZIGGY / by Tom Wilson

SALLY FORTH / by Francesco Marciuliano & Jim Keefe

ZITS / by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

PEARLS BEFORE SWINE / by Stephan Pastis

wonderword

scrabble grams

word game

directions: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. “Blanks” used as any letter have no point value. All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition.

instructions: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of “s,” such as “bats” or “dies,” are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a “d” or an “s” may not be used. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

todAY's Word — tenderest: TEN-derest: Most easily chewed; most succulent. Average mark 39 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 67 or more words in TENDEREST?

For more information on tournaments and clubs, email NASPA – North American SCRABBLE Players Association: info@scrabbleplayers.org. Visit our website: www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzle inquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com. Hasbro and its logo SCRABBLE associated logo, the design of the distinctive SCRABBLE brand game card, and the distinctive letter tile designs are trademarks of Hasbro in the United States and Canada. ©2026 Hasbro. All rights reserved. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

cryptoquote AxyDLBAAxR iS LONgFELLOW One letter stands for another. in this sample, A is used for the three L’s, x for the two O’s, etc. Single letters, apostrophes, the length and formation of the words are all hints. Each day the code letters are different.

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

Sudoku

ken ken instructions: 1 - Each row and each column must contain the numbers 1 through 4 (easy) or 1 through 6 (challenging) without repeating. 2 - The numbers within the heavily outlined boxes, called cages, must combine using the given operation (in any order) to produce the target numbers in the top-left corners. 3 - Freebies: Fill in the single-box cages with the number in the top-left corner.

instructions: Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

hidato directions: Complete the grid so that numbers 1–132 connect horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

AnsWers to ALL PuZZLes Are on inside BAcK PAGe

Los angeLes Times sunday Crossword puzzLe — Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis “THree’s Company” By riCH KaTz aCross 1 Best of the best 5 Syrup source 10 That partner 14 Fistfuls of dollars 18 Authorize 19 Cookies with a “You asked for it” collaboration with 29-Across 20 Surrounding glow 21 La Scala solo 22 Ron + (Kristen + Alexander Graham) 24 Clint + (Francis Scott + KeeganMichael) 26 NYC drama award 27 Slangy contraction 28 Land between Can. and Mex. 29 Peanut butter cup brand 30 Sally + (Julia + Philip) 34 Like stress balls and fidget spinners 35 End of term? 36 “Knock yourself out!” 39 Suzuki who won nine batting titles in two countries 43 Knocked out 44 Some reservoir residents 48 Barry + (Elliot + Jimmy) 51 Nia + (Elton + Tommy) 54 Othello’s betrayer 55 Bulgarian, e.g. 56 Endow with, as authority 58 Autonomous vacuum 59 Utmost degree 60 Aligned 62 Labors mightily to accomplish

63 Grover + (Alton + Helen Gurley) 68 Term of endearment? 71 Leveraged __: corporate acquisition 72 “Print to” option 75 Really sad 76 Sound from a kettle or a snake 78 Actor Epps 80 Island home of the Hana Highway 81 (Adam + Minnie) + Helms 83 Fiona + (Lemmon + London) 85 Speaker brand 86 Theater reviewers 89 Plug’s place 90 Channel that rarely fails to make one cry 92 Matinee hrs. 94 “The Return of the King” king 98 Cleary + (Faith + Jonah) 104 Small donkeys 105 Ballerina’s turning point 107 Ancient France 108 “So Sick” R&B singer 109 Keith + (Garfunkel + Carney) 111 (Underwood + Fisher) + Johnny 114 New Mexico art hub 115 Santa’s specialty 116 Leading 117 Nikon rival 118 Nikon products 119 Novelist Émile 120 Baking gloves 121 Pt. of IMF down 1 Defense witness, often 2 Basic skateboard trick

3 Many a Seanan McGuire work 4 Sheepish sort? 5 Crib accessory 6 Venues that often have corporate names 7 Nails, as with snowballs 8 “U r 2 funny!” 9 Start at the beginning? 10 Guitar player’s aid 11 Hawaiian dance 12 Nest egg letters 13 Holy 14 Boat trailers? 15 Schoolyard retort 16 Certain hardware store patron, casually 17 Smart-alecky 18 Lead-up to a date? 23 Convertibles 25 Lotto game 28 Thrifted, perhaps 31 Bleak 32 Spots for scrubs 33 “ManningCast” brother 34 In stitches 37 “__ well that ends well” 38 Smokestack dust 39 “Game, set, match” 40 Puss, in Paris 41 Top temperature 42 Skater Midori 43 101, for one 44 Tricks 45 Measures of resistance 46 Liberty org. 47 Hurdle for a DAto-be 49 Pain relief brand 50 Donated 52 “Oh, __ up!” 53 Connect 56 Williams with five Wimbledon singles titles 57 Whirlpool 61 Captures 62 Completely wreck

63 Eggnog spice 64 Concede a golden goal, say 65 Of all time 66 Nose-tapping sounds 67 Kind of roast 68 Site for film fans 69 Lawnmower brand 70 Sanskrit honorifics 72 Rat or Brat follower

goren Bridge

73 Team led by Mike Krzyzewski for 42 seasons 74 Clenched hand 76 Munich mister 77 Terse affirmative 79 Provide a new look 80 Prefix in many a Scottish surname 82 Printer function 83 Closer at the Globe 84 Kid

wuzzLes

97 Wimbledon surface 99 Everglades wader 100 Like Machu Picchu 101 Listed, to a Brit 102 Antibacterial brand 103 Kind of Kind, in Köln 105 Texter’s “Bye for now” 106 Peak near Olympus

110 Aussie hopper 111 Vid taker 112 Sashimi choice 113 Ecol. or geol.

super Quiz Take this Super Quiz to a Ph.D. Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

Good bidding, good playing Today’s deal is from a tournament in Brighton, England. South was the late Nissan Rand, from Israel. East’s preemptive raise to five diamonds, vulnerable, might have been too aggressive. It might have been badly punished. Rand, however, had no interest in defending five diamonds. He made a “forcing pass”, ostensibly asking partner to decide whether to bid on or double. Rand’s bid of five hearts, pulling partner’s penalty double, was a show of strength. It showed a hand that would be happy to be raised to six if North thought he had a suitable hand for slam. A weaker hand would have bid five hearts directly over the five-diamond bid. North, with all prime values, raised to six hearts. Rand ruffed the opening ace of diamonds lead and drew trumps in one round. Expecting West to have the ace of clubs, Rand led a low club to dummy’s king. He discarded the 10 of clubs on the king of diamonds and led a club to his queen and West’s ace. West

87 __ sock 88 Winter puddle topper 90 Many a “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” character 91 Fake 92 Landing spot of Noah’s Ark 93 Liquids 94 Borders 95 Like most farmland 96 Shady spot

SUBJECT: WORDS How is your vocabulary? (Example: “Cheval” is French for what animal? Answer: Horse.) FRESHMAN LEVEL 1. Regicide is the act of killing what? Answer________ 2. What is a pollywog? Answer________ 3. Word for a hand in which all the cards are of the same suit but not in numerical sequence. Answer________ 4. Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of what? Answer________ 5. What word for a specific time of day can be spelled the same forward and backward? Answer________

was helpless. He had to lead a spade, yield a ruff-sluff, or set up dummy’s nine of clubs. Had the clubs split 3-3, one club ruff would establish dummy’s nine as the twelfth trick. Very well done! Tannah Hirsch welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency inc., 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, Ny. 14207. E-mail responses may be sent to gorenbridge@ aol.com. © 2026 Tribune Content Agency

GRADUATE LEVEL 6. “Postbellum” refers to the period after a ____. Answer________ 7. What word refers to the fear or dislike of strangers or people from other countries? Answer________

8. If something is superfluous it is not ____. Answer________ 9. “Caveat emptor” warns the ____ to beware. Answer________ 10. A protractor is used to measure ____. Answer________ PH.D. LEVEL 11. What word means a gripping listlessness or melancholia caused by boredom? Answer________ 12. “Staple” is to “fasten” as “knife” is to “____.” Answer________ 13. Correct the misspelled word: “He definitely attempted to accommodate the seperate couples.” Answer________ 14. What four-letter word can go in both blanks? “pitch____” and “___lift” Answer________ 15. “Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase for “seize the ____.” Answer________

ANSWERS TO ALL PUZZLES ARE ON NEXT PAGE

zodiaC LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) Take positive steps toward your goals. Live, learn and execute your plans with passion and charisma. How you prepare and promote something will determine your returns. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) What you observe will serve you far better than jumping in and interacting without sufficient background information. Someone’s actions or emotional responses will be far more informative than a conversation. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23) Pay attention to how you present yourself to others. A simple but elegant look will attract many, and a kind word will

help you seal whatever deal you are trying to make. Don’t let impatience ruin the mood. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) Be cognizant of what you say or the promises you make. Don’t back yourself into a corner that might jeopardize your reputation or authenticity regarding what you do for a living. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) Get in the game and show everyone what you can do. Your insight and ability to get things done will attract attention and the help you need to reach your objective. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) Designate more time and effort into your rela-

tionships. Protect against those trying to lead you astray or emotionally manipulate you. Guard your reputation, and offer only verified facts. AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) Get into the driver’s seat and start moving in a direction that satisfies your soul. Partnerships can turn into profits. Choose someone who is moving in a similar direction. PISCES (Feb. 20-March 20) Improve your surroundings. If you feel comfortable, you’ll achieve more. Refuse to let criticism daunt you. Stand alone, follow your heart and live life pursuing what makes you happy.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) Don’t let anger take over. Pay attention to how you look, feel and get along with loved ones. Nurture relationships, and explore options that offer a positive and lucrative way to earn a living. TAURUS (April 20-May 20) Take a pause to reevaluate your situation. Overreacting will leave you at a loss. Focus on self-improvement and discarding what you don’t need or is standing in your way. GEMINI (May 21-June 20) Reach out to someone from your past you want to reconnect with. Engage in projects

that make your surroundings more convenient. Practical changes will put your mind at ease and help you gain clarity. CANCER (June 21-July 22) Think twice before you say something in anger. Channel your energy into personal growth, improvement or a positive lifestyle change. You’ll gain the most by pursuing something you can do alone. The horoscope, an entertainment feature, is not based on scientific fact. © 2026 by NEA, inc., dist. By Andrews McMeel Syndication

dustin / by Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker

Answers to puzzles super quiz 1. A monarch (king or queen). 2. A tadpole. 3. A flush. 4. The number 13. 5. Noon. 6. War. 7. Xenophobia. 8. Needed (necessary). 9. Buyer. 10. Angles. 11. Ennui. 12. Cut. 13. Separate. 14. Fork. 15. Day.

SCORING: 24 to 30 points — congratulations, doctor; 18 to 23 points — honors graduate; 13 to 17 points — you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 5 to 12 points — you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 4 points — enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0 points — who reads the questions to you?

Cryptoquote Answer Saturday's Cryptoquote: Summer is delicately made. While it is, it is ceasing. — Genevieve Taggard

word GAme Answer teed teen teeter tend tender tenet tense tenser tent tented tern terse test tested tester tree trend

enter entered entree erne need nerd nest nested nester netted deer deet dense denser dent desert detente

deter detest reed rend rent rented reseed resend resent resented reset rest rested retest retested seder seed

seen seer send sender sent serene settee setter sneer sneered steed steer stent stern stet street

sudoKu Answer jumble Answer

Crossword Answers

jeFF mACnelly’s shoe / by Gary Brookins & Susie MacNelly

sCrAbble Answers

FoXtrot / by Bill Amend

wuzzles Answers

Ken Ken Answers

hidAto Answers